Experiment with the opening pair of India in the ICC World Test Championship WTC 2023-25 cycle, is it necessary at this point?
With the new ICC World Test Championship 2023-25 cycle commencing for India skipper Rohit Sharma the management has decided to experiment with their batters for the opening pair. It is almost certain that for the first test against the West Indies team, India‘s elegant left-handed batter Yashasvi Jaiswal is set to open the batting with captain Rohit Sharma. Shubman Gill will be batting at number 3 in the absence of Cheteshwar Pujara (*dropped).
Yashasvi Jaiswal rewarded for performing in IPL.
Though Yashasvi Jaiswal has performed well in the recent IPL 2023, scoring 625 runs at an average of 48 and strike rate of 163, considering the level of international cricket, the decision of selecting him seems to have been taken quite early. He also had a fantastic first-class season while averaging over 80 in his first 26 First Class innings. Yashasvi Jaiswal also enjoyed a successful year of red-ball cricket, making 265 in the second innings of the Duleep Trophy Final last year.
Overlooking Sarfaraz Khan may be a mistake
Sarfaraz Khan is not selected for the men’s national has always been a question for the selection committee. Off lately, he has been performing well in all formats that he has played.
Recently Sarfaraz scored a total of 605 first-class runs before being dismissed by Kamlesh Makvana and that is the seventh highest runs scored by a batsman before being dismissed in first-class cricket. The 25-year-old, who scored 301* and 226* in his last two innings, was once again quite useful with the bat as he scored 78 during the game against Saurashtra to enter an elite list of cricketers.
Shubman Gill is a proven opener
With Shubman Gill performing exceptionally well in the IPL as an opener, it was certainly not required to move him down to the number three spot. Shubman Gill’s performance as an opener since November has been over the mark. His double hundred against New Zealand in January this year was magnificent. His century against New Zealand in T20 series,126* of 63 balls, was an innings of master class with exceptional stroke play.
Series of injured players in team India a concern for selectors
While the team is already dealing with series of injured players like Jasprit Bumrah, K L Rahul, Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya, finding their suitable replacement is already a big concern before the ODI World Cup. And experimenting with the opening at this point is certainly not a suitable option from the Indian Team’s point of view. Though a strong bench strength of players is an advantage, but choosing the best one from is difficult, keeping in mind the playing conditions.