Right before India were due to depart for the South Africa tour, they lost Rohit Sharma to a hamstring injury at a training session.
This was a huge blow, given that Rohit has been India Test batting’s mainstay over the last few months.
First-choice opener – KL Rahul: Until the England tour in August, KL Rahul had been out of the Test team for two years. Now, he’s the vice-captain of the Test side. It’s been a tremendous turnaround for the 29-year-old, who now finds himself at the top of the pecking order for the opener’s slot.
Here are the options to fill in for Rohit for the Test series:
Frontrunner
Mayank Agarwal
Runs 1294, Avg 47.92, HS 243
Rahul’s Karnataka teammate will probably the first-choice option for many, especially given his recent exploits. After failing in the Kanpur Test, Agarwal turned up in style at Mumbai, scoring 212 runs in a massive win for India. His first innings 150 was some knock, getting the better of New Zealand bowlers in turning conditions.
He has been one of the impressive India batters at the top of the order over the last few years, and was unlucky to miss out the England Tests after a dip in form. Along with international experience, what works in his favour is his ability to give India good, brisk starts away from home.
Dark horse
Priyank Panchal
First-Class Record: Runs 7,011, Avg 45.52, HS 314*
The Gujarat player was the direct beneficiary of Rohit’s injury, being added to the India squad. The player was already in the rainbow nation in November, leading India A in a three ‘unofficial’ Test series. Priyank is the only specialist opener apart from KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal in the side. With 100 first-class games under his belt and prior experience of the conditions, Priyank can be a solid prospect at the top.
Outside bet
Cheteshwar Pujara
Runs 6589, Avg 44.82, HS 206*
The India top-order veteran is also no stranger to opening the innings. He has played some crucial knocks as an opener, one of which was a match-winning hundred on his comeback in 2015. There has been some conversation around Pujara’s form, given that he hasn’t the best of runs of late, but the veteran No.3 has been backed for the tour. If India indeed want someone to see off the new ball in tough conditions, there are few better batters than Pujara.
There is lesser probability that middle-order bats like Pujara, and Vihari to be seen at the top, but they can choose that route in case of an injury or if they’d like to play an extra middle-order batter.
Also there
Hanuma Vihari
Runs 624, Avg 32.84, HS 111
While Hanuma is a strong middle-order option as it is, and impressed one and all with his 227 runs at an average of 75.66 during the recently concluded ‘unofficial’ Tests in South Africa, he could also be an option as an opener. While he’s opened only once in his Test career, it was a brave effort where he saw off the new ball in both the innings in Australia. It seems unlikely that India will go down this route, but one can never be sure given the uncertainties of the time.
