Media came in Conversation with Rishabh Pant before much-anticipated first Test between India and England to shed some light on certain details of the Indian batting line-up. The wicketkeeper-batter assured that the captain Shubman Gill will bat at No. 4 and Pant himself at No. 5.
There are however other important questions that go unanswered-the opening partners of India and the number 3 slot. Yashasvi Jaiswal should maintain his position and go top of the order with uncompromised regularity in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Who is to back him?
Aged 27, KL Rahul, who is all but a guarantee to make playing XI, is a good choice to open alongside Jaiswal. The one-down (No. 3) position will remain a debatable issue where Sai Sudharsan and Karun Nair come up as the favorites. Karun flashed in patches in the IPL and Sudharsan was consistent. Karun has been an outstanding performer in domestic cricket, especially on behalf of Vidarbha in engagements of the red-ball event and the white-ball Mushtaq Ali Trophy.
To make their case stronger both the batters hit big numbers during the unofficial warm-up games since their arrival in England with Karun even notching up a hit of a double century. They are the probable add-ons to the playing XI, and the batting combination is still a flux.
Some experts believe that Sudharsan could open at No. 3, which will see Karun Nair going down the order to No. 6. And in the event that, the top six of India might appear as follows:
1. Yashasvi Jaiswal
2. KL Rahul
3. Sai Sudharsan
4. Shubman Gill
5. Rishabh Pant
6. Karun Nair
But when questioned on final decisions Pant was evasive:
The subject of position No. 3 is a matter of negotiations. But No 4 and No 5 are definitely nailed- on - Shubman will open at four and I am five. Other jobs are still in discussion.”
Meantime England have declared their team. Chris Woakes returns to the squad after he missed the previous two Tests because of an ankle injury and Sam Cook is dropped. Vice-captain Ollie Pope returns to the team and replaces Jacob Bethell, and Brydon Carse replaces Gus Atkinson.
The XI of England, 1 st Test:
Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett., Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (c), Jamie Smith (wk), Chris Woakes, Brydon Carse, Josh Tongue, Shoaib Bashir.
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