Ahead of India’s tour to Australia, four Wisden India writers discuss India’s possible opening combination – more specifically, the identity of Mayank Agarwal’s opening partner for the four-Test series.

Out of the four openers in the squad, Mayank looks a certainty to open the innings, having already struck three centuries and four fifties in his first 11 Tests. He’ll return to Australia to a complete a full circle – two years ago, he debuted in Melbourne, and has gone on to average over 57 in the format since.

This isn’t about Mayank though. It will be a three-way contest between KL Rahul, Shubman Gill and Prithvi Shaw to fight for the second opener’s spot. Rahul is the most experienced of the three, having opened in 54 of his 60 Tests innings, while Shaw is just four-Tests old and Gill is yet play Test cricket.

That said, Shaw has moved ahead of Rahul in the pecking order, vying for the second opener’s spot with Rohit Sharma over the last year or so. KL Rahul was left out of the Test team after a string of poor scores, but returns as the solitary wicketkeeper this time around. Gill, though untested, has been in and around the Indian Test setup, and would back himself for what would be a deserved Test debut after scoring runs aplenty in domestic cricket.

Manoj Narayan, Wisden India Editor

The pragmatic pick here would be KL Rahul, but I’m going to stick my neck out and say Shubman Gill. Facing the new ball on the bouncy tracks in Australia isn’t the easiest route to the Test team, but you get the feeling Gill is among the bracket of players who can come through that sort of a test with their reputation enhanced. He’s been knocking on the Test doors for a while now, and has certainly been in better touch than Prithvi Shaw on recent form, even if it was in the IPL.

Gill has got the technique to handle whatever the Australian pacers throw at him, and the question, really, is whether he can handle the pressures that come with opening in a high-profile overseas Test series, the verbals that one can expect in Australia, and just the ever-increasing value on his runs as he climbs up the ranks – you’ll only know by trying him out, but in all respects, he’s shown he is deserving of that chance.

Aadya Sharma, Wisden India Staff Writer

Not that it matters as far as Test selection is concerned, but KL Rahul is likely to end IPL 2020 as its highest run-getter, a tournament where he has consistently scored runs, even if at a relatively low strike-rate. What it’s likely done is refilled Rahul’s confidence metre ahead of the Australia series. It’s the perfect premise for him to walk back into the Test side, and slot himself back into his customary opening role.

A free-flowing batsman when on song, Rahul has it in him to spend long stints at the crease, which, arguably, gives him the edge over the other two relatively raw options. For his top two Tests scores, he spent over seven hours in the middle, and has faced over 200 deliveries in an innings on five occasions. It will be a vital attribute for Indian openers on Australia’s pacy pitches, when there could be long passages that require plenty of self-control and disengagement. Mayank and Rahul have played years of cricket together as well, and that understanding will play a role as they look to blunt the new ball and do the early work.

Sankalp Srivastava, Wisden India Staff Writer

Prithvi Shaw returned to the Test fold after an eight-month ban for India’s tour of New Zealand [earlier this year], and put up a decent showing, scoring a half-century with a positive intent in what was a largely forgettable series for Indian batsmen – only Cheteshwar Pujara, Hanuma Vihari and Mayank Agarwal, other than Shaw, managed a fifty while no one reached three figures.

His confidence would have taken a hit after a sub-par league stage performance in IPL 2020, and the last thing the Indian think-tank would want to do is further dent it by benching him for the first Test in Australia. India have both Shubman Gill and KL Rahul who can take up the role if Shaw fails, but in Adelaide on December 17, the Agarwal-Shaw duo will be ideal for the opening role.

Roshan Gede, Wisden India Staff Writer

It’s the experienced KL Rahul over young guns Prithvi Shaw and Shubman Gill for me.

He might have had a horror 2018/19 Australia tour, but Rahul has looked a class apart ever since. While all his recent successes might have come in white-ball cricket, it shouldn’t take long for a batsman of sound technical proficiency to get himself going [once again] in Tests. He’d do well to recall the time when it all started – the maiden hundred at the SCG in 2014/15. Don’t be surprised if there’s a drastic change of fortunes for KL from the previous tour [who knows, it could be much like Virat Kohli in England from 2014 to 2018].

There can be little doubt over him and Mayank Agarwal forming a solid partnership, as both have batted hours together for Karnataka, and more recently, Kings XI Punjab. As for the other two, Prithvi’s tentativeness against the moving ball might land him in early trouble, while for Gill, perhaps the more reliable of the two, it might be too tough a challenge first up in Test cricket.

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