Australia vs India T20I: Who will be the opening partner of Shikhar Dhawan? Who should open with Shikhar Dhawan? Australia vs India T20I: Who will be the opening partner of Shikhar Dhawan?
With the unavailability of experienced Rohit Sharma, due to hamstring injury, for the opening position, there might be a lot back and forth in the playing 11. Team India has included KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, and Shubman Gill as the candidates for the opening slot along with Shikhar Dhawan.
Australia vs India: KL Rahul as a Opener:
KL Rahul who is recently given the Vice-Captains role, after Rohit got injured and was ruled out, is the first choice to open with Dhawan. The limited over vice-captain earned the Orange Cap with a flaming performance in the thirteenth edition of the Indian Premier League.
It is clearly seen from his stats in IPL, that how much he love to bat top the order. In a recent interview, Rahul told that he can bat anywhere and will love to keep the wickets.
“Batting order will be decided according to the format of the game and what the management wants me to do. I am flexible, I understand the conditions.”
Talking about his ambitions for keeping the wickets, KL Rahul said,” Management has not told me anything about it right now. If the opportunity exists, I will be happy to keep wickets for the next three ICC events.”
Also, if Rahul is given the responsibility to stay behind the stumps then it gives an opportunity to include one more bowler or a batter, according to the need of the side.
Australia vs India: Mayank Agarwal or Shubman Gill?
Another opening options include Mayank Agarwal and Shubman Gill, if management does not want to open with Rahul. Both the openers failed to make their limited over debut memorable.
Shubman Gill in IPL 2020 was the only consistent batsman from Shahrukh Khan owned franchise. He scored 440 runs in 14 outings at a strike rate of 117 while Mayank Agarwal scored 424 runs in just 11 innings with a monstrous strike rate of over 150.
Agarwal who is the test regular now has made his mark in limited over cricket after his successful instinct in IPL. The Karnataka Batsman gathered praises from all around cricket fraternities.
Management will think of getting the combination right quickly as the ICC T20 World Cup is not far from here. Team India will definitely look to keep a backup opener for Rohit Sharma keeping his form and fitness in mind.
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