5 Players who can replace Rohit Sharma as Opener in T20I and ODI against Australia. Players who can replace injured Rohit Sharma as the opener. 5 Players who can replace Rohit Sharma as Opener in T20I and ODI against Australia.
Men in Blues’ most successful limited over opener, Rohit Sharma is given rest to recover well from the hamstring injury and to play the longest format of Cricket against Australia. India will surely miss the services of the 3 times double centurion in limited over cricket. However, this gives a lot of players an opportunity to step up and take a role in absence of the veteran.
India is all set to play its first international game after nine months, thanks to the pandemic. India will begin the long tour of Australia with ODIs followed by T20Is and to wrap Tests matches.
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Here is the list of 5 players who can probably open in absence of Rohit Sharma in ODIs and T20Is.
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5 Players who can replace Rohit Sharma as Opener:
1. Sanju Samson:
The mighty wicketkeeper-batsman showed his instincts during the IPL 2020. The Kerala based cricketer impressed everyone with his clean hitting. Although Rajasthan Royals finished last in the league stages, Sanju Samson was in a majestic form for the franchise.
Samson has outings in T20I but has not impressed as he lost his wickets early. However, he is yet to wear his ODI cap. Some brilliant performances in the Australian tour can help him play ICC T20 World Cup and don the gloves as a first choice wicketkeeper.
2. KL Rahul:
Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 Orange Cap winner, Kannur Lokesh Rahul is a consistent performer for the Kings XI Punjab over the years. He is the first choice to open the innings with Shikhar Dhawan in limited over cricket.
Early in 2020, KL smacked good innings against New Zealand in T20Is and is in the form of his life. Skipper Kohli earlier used him as the middle-order batsman, however, Rohit Sharma is not available it is unlikely that he will play as a middle-order batsman.
The management and the skipper will open with him as he has impressed everyone and KL will also play the role of VIce Capitain.
3. Virat Kohli:
Team India’s regular skipper will also be an option as the opener in limited over cricket. Virat Kohli has opened the innings for Royal Challengers Bangalore in past and was successful in providing a good foundation.
Kohli plays with a strike rate of 140 which is better than his regular career strike rate. He has registered all his 5 tons in IPL while opening the innings.
4. Mayank Agarwal:
The Karnataka batsman got the opportunity to play ODI against New Zealand earlier in 2020 when Rohit Sharma missed. He did not have a good debut series ending up with mere 36 runs.
However, the successful IPL performance will gift him an extra opportunity to come in and score. Mayank Agarwal played a significant role in the little triumph of KXIP. He registered his maiden IPL ton in IPL 2020 against RR.
Agarwal will be the perfect replacement for the experienced dashing opener. He also has splendid records in domestic circuits.
5. Shubman Gill:
The young U-19 opener is one of the promising names in the list of players who can replace Rohit Sharma in the future. The Punjab based batsman is the only player to perform consistently for Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL 2020.
Gill don his ODI cap against Kiwis but the young lad, unfortunately, could not convert it to a memorable one scoring just 16 runs at the strike rate of 50.
However, he IPL performance will be good enough to give him a chance. He scored 440 runs in 14 outings for KKR and was the highest run-getter for Shahrukh Khan owned franchise.
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