The first match of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy between India vs Australia will be played in Nagpur from 9 February. These days Team India is sweating a lot in the practice session for this match, but the biggest problem of the team remains with the playing XI. There is less than 24 hours left for the match to start, but captain Rohit Sharma is yet to decide who will be his 11 players.
Along with this, the biggest problem for Rohit Sharma is that of opening. KL Rahul or Shubman Gill, who can play this role against Australia with the captain, till now the team management has not been able to decide. But, a big news is coming out about Gill, which can prove to be bad news for him.
According to a recent report, during the practice session on Tuesday, captain Rohit Sharma, vice-captain KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli came for batting in the first slot. From this it can be inferred that KL Rahul can be the first choice of captain Rohit Sharma and team management for the opening.
However, in the press conference, Rahul had said that according to the requirement of the team, he is also ready to bat at number 5. But, till now no official statement has been revealed regarding this.
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Shubman Gill will come at number 5
Looking at the form of Shubman Gill, he is sure to be selected in the playing XI but, along with the good news, there is also bad news for the fans that he may be dropped to bat at number-5 instead of opening in the Nagpur Test. According to a report quoting Times India, Shubman Gill’s role in the playing-XI may change.
Till now he has been seen batting at number-5 in Test format only. But in the presence of KL Rahul, captain Rohit Sharma can try him at number-5. It is also being speculated that even during the practice session, he came to bat in the second slot.
Why would Shubman Gill be Rohit’s best opening partner?
Both KL Rahul and Shubman Gill are openers, but if we look at the recent performance, KL Rahul is failing as an opener in all the three formats, while Gill has scored runs in all three formats – T20, ODI and Test. It is the responsibility of the opener to give a better start to the team and for this it is necessary to have the confidence which Gill currently has. That’s why India should start the innings with Gill and Rahul should bat in the middle order. Rahul has batted in the middle order before and played good innings.
