Two youngsters — Shubman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal — still navigating through the red and whites of Test cricket have created a selection dilemma. With no tour game, the India Cricket Team began with an intra-squad practice match ahead of IND vs SA Test series starting on Dec 26. Shubman Gill hit a ton while Yashasvi Jaiswal scored a half-century before he was called back for others to get some batting practice. Rohit Sharma also got some crucial batting practice while Virat Kohli missed out as he had to return home due to a family emergency.
With Rohit Sharma certain to open, the other opener’s slot is still up for grabs. Shubman Gill was the designated opener but Yashasvi Jaiswal stole the limelight with his debut ton in the West Indies. And with another good knock in the India intra-squad practice match, he has now created a selection dilemma.
Who will open with Rohit Sharma?
This is going to be a million-dollar question. In the last Test series in South Africa, KL Rahul opened the innings with Mayank Agarwal with Rohit Sharma injured. But with KL Rahul briefly losing his spot in the Test team, Shubman Gill got the chance. And he grabbed it.
However, with a not-so-impressive run in Test cricket, the century in the intra-squad practice match would do a lot to boost his confidence. In the last 12 months, he has only averaged 28.55, scoring just a century.
Yashasvi Jaiswal on the other hand is in impressive red-ball form and the team management would need to take a call for IND vs SA Test series.
There is a possibility that Shubman Gill might have to settle for a spot in the middle-order. And instead, Jaiswal will get the nod at the top to open with Rohit Sharma. With no Ajinkya Rahane anymore, Gill could be a long-term option in the middle-order.
India Test squad: Rohit Sharma (C), Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Ruturaj Gaikwad, KL Rahul (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Mohd. Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Prasidh Krishna, KS Bharat (wk)
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