India opener Rohit Sharma
While the inaugural World Test Championship (WTC) final is just over a week away, there's been a lot of discussion over India's opening combination for the summit clash against New Zealand.
Rohit Sharma has secured his position at the top but the team management is spoilt for choices for the second opener, with young Shubman Gill and technically sound Mayank Agarwal in the ranks.
Former India all-rounder Yuvraj Singh has also revealed his opening combination for the much-awaited contest, scheduled to start from June 18th at the Ageas Bowl in Southampton. The left-handed dasher hinted that he'd go with Gill to start the innings with Rohit.
“Rohit Sharma is very experienced now in Test matches. He has almost 7 hundreds as an opener. But both Rohit and Shubman Gill have not opened in England ever,” Yuvraj told Sports Tak.
Agarwal was sidelined from the Test combination after two failures against Australia. Gill, his replacement, shone Down Under but floundered in the subsequent Test series against England at home.
However, Gill, a part of the Kolkata Knight Riders' set-up, was poor in the recently-postponed IPL, raising questions over his inclusion for the all-important contest against the Kiwis.
Yuvraj also said that the Rohit-Gill pair have to take one session at a time. Rohit and Gill had opened together in Australia but the duo doesn't have any experience playing in English conditions. The 34-year-old Rohit, in fact, will be playing his first Test in England as an opener.
“They know the challenge, the Dukes Ball swings early. They have to get used to the conditions quickly.
“In England, it's important to take it one session at a time. In the morning, the ball swings and seams, in the afternoon you can score runs, after Tea, it swings again. As a batsman, if you can adapt to these things, you can be successful," said Yuvraj, who represented India in 40 Tests, 304 ODIs, and 58 T20 Internationals.
Yuvraj also echoed the views of head coach Ravi Shastri and called for the WTC final to be a 'best of three' affair.
“I feel in a situation like this, there should be a best of 3 Tests, because if you lose the first one then you can come back in the next two. India will have a slight disadvantage because New Zealand is already playing Test cricket in England,” he said.
