BCCI has confirmed that captain Rohit Sharma has tested positive for COVID-19. The one-off game is scheduled to start on July 1st at Edgbaston. KL Rahul is already ruled out and there is no news if Mayank Agarwal is on standby. As per a few reports, Rohit might find it difficult to recover in time for the game. Hence, India will have to try a new opening combination for the game. On that note, in this article, we take a look at three opening combinations Team India could try against England if Rohit Sharma does not recover by July 1st.
1) Shubman Gill – Cheteshwar Pujara
When the team was selected, Shubman Gill was seen as the reserve opener. However, now that both KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma might not be available, Gill becomes the senior opener. He will surely be part of the one-off Test, irrespective of Rohit Sharma’s availability.
India’s best option is to try out Cheteshwar Pujara, who has played as an opener before. His technique also suits the role and the team anyways has options for Pujara’s No.3 role.
2) Shubman Gill – Hanuma Vihari
Shubman Gill and Hanuma Vihari will be one of the opening combinations Team India could try against England if Rohit Sharma does not recover by July 1st. In 2018, against Australia, India had been in a similar situation. Hanuma Vihari then did the honors.
It would not be a surprise if that happens again. With Shreyas Iyer also in the squad, the management will not have problems in the middle-order even if Vihari takes up the opener’s role.
3) Shubman Gill – KS Bharat
In the second innings of the practice game, the management sent KS Bharat to open the innings alongside Gill. This could be a sign that Bharat is in consideration for the role, especially now that he did well in the warm-up encounter.
Although the Andhra Pradesh cricketer plays in the middle-order for his state, he has the experience of playing as an opener. When he started out, he opened the batting for his team. With India short on options, Rahul Dravid and co. could take this option. For Bharat, it could finally be the debut of the country.
