India have no shortage of options in the opening department. Newly appointer captain Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul have been the first-choice openers, but an injury to Rahul meant that the Men in Blue had to open with Mayank Agarwal in the first Test against Sri Lanka in Mohali. Despite calls for Shubman Gill to start, ex-Indian skipper Sunil Gavaskar has sided with Mayank Agarwal for the opening role.
Although Agarwal is hardly new to the role and has essayed his job well in the past as well, the opening spot fuels plenty of debate and questions. Gavaskar has also joined the discussion.
Fans have been asking for Gill’s inclusion in the squad and the talented youngster hasn’t played international cricket in a long time. Gill was extremely effective during India’s historic conquest of Australia but has since, lost prominence because of injury and form.
Gavaskar, however, has backed the team management to pick Punjab Kings captain Agarwal instead of Gill. The former cricketer-turned-commentator thinks that Gill hasn’t played enough cricket lately due to a recent injury. With that being said, Gill is extremely talented and cannot be ignored in future selections.
“He (Gill) hasn’t played any form of cricket in the last two months. He did not even play Ranji Trophy so if you have to play for India, you need some or the other type of practice. Of course, he has the talent, there is no doubt about it. But in the end, it is also about form,”
Gavaskar told Sports Tak.
While pushing the case for Mayank, Gavaskar said that he is a batter who likes to score big at home and bats like a boss’ Agarwal is almost always prolific when batting in the subcontinent and has played quite a few fantastic knocks.
“And if you see carefully, Mayank Agarwal always scores big in India’s home series. He bats like a boss in India but doesn’t score runs overseas. In home series, he has at least one big hundred or a double century. So, he should definitely open,”
he added.
