India tour of South Africa: KL Rahul-Mayank Agarwal to open – With Rohit Sharma out with hamstring injury, Virat Kohli has confirmed that KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal will open in South Africa. Shubman Gill’s injury further boosted his chances of retaining the opener’s slot. Follow India vs South Africa Live Updates on InsideSport.IN.
Mayank Agarwal on his part did his best, scoring a century in Mumbai against New Zealand in the first innings and a half-century in the second innings. Virat Kohli said that it would be a good opportunity for Mayank.
“We will miss Rohit’s abilities a lot. He has proven in England that he has really worked his Test game out. His opening partnership with KL was very important for us to play in the series. Obviously, with his experience and skills, we will miss his qualities. But having said that, it’s an opportunity for someone like Mayank and KL to step up and solidify that start for us that we got in the last series,” Test captain Virat Kohli said at the pre-departure virtual press conference on Wednesday.
India tour of South Africa: Virat Kohli confirms, KL Rahul & Mayank Agarwal will open against South Africa in Rohit Sharma’s absence’
Rohit Sharma’s contribution to the Test will be the biggest miss as he has been India’s No 1 batsman in the longest format in 2021. With 906 runs in 21 innings and an average of 47.68, he has been India’s go-to run-getter in Tests. He is followed by Rishabh Pant (706) and Cheteshwar Pujara (686).
India’s Test openers in 2021:
Rohit Sharma: 906 runs @ 47.88
Shubman Gill: 478 runs @ 29.88
KL Rahul: 315 runs @ 39.38
Mayank Agarwal: 289 runs @ 48.17
In the opening slot, India did try multiple combinations but all of them have been average. In 2021, Mayank Agarwal has scored 289 runs at 48.17 average in 3 matches, KL Rahul has scored 315 runs at 39.38 average in 4 matches while Shubman Gill has scored 478 runs at an average of 29.88 in 9 matches.
India tour of South Africa: Virat Kohli confirms, KL Rahul & Mayank Agarwal will open against South Africa in Rohit Sharma’s absence’
However, India’s opening conundrum isn’t new. In fact, in the last 12 months, India have had to use four different opening pairs — Mayank-Prithvi, Mayank-Shubman, Rohit-Shubman and Rohit-KL.
But for Virat Kohli, winning in South Africa will hold importance. India lost the series 1-2. In fact, India have never won a Test series in South Africa since 1992.
“South Africa presents a different kind of challenge. The wickets have a lot of pace and bounce and you have to be at your absolute best to perform there and get runs — get difficult runs. It’s something we’ve tried to do as a team but probably left ourselves a bit too much to do at certain times. So, I think we’re well-placed in terms of experience, belief, and confidence that this time around we can do something special and get results we want as a team and overcome conditions to go and win a series,” Virat Kohli said.
