Virat Kohli-led team India is all ready to take on the Lankan challenge. It is a full series, comprising of 3 Tests, 5 One Day Internationals and a one-off T20I. The Indian team with its newly-appointed coach in Ravi Shastri and the team management has been changed, hence it will be interesting to see how they gel and get the work done. India will be facing a Sri Lankan team, which has its own set of woes. They are a team in transition and have recently lost to Zimbabwe, which is highly unexpected. They have also had a change as captain Angelo Matthews stepped down after Zimbabwe loss and Dinesh Chandimal was appointed captain. With latest news pouring in, we learn that Chandimal will not lead the hosts, but instead Rangana Herath, the left arm spinner will be captaining them.
Team composition
Indian team looks to be a settled unit, with only one problem bugging them, that is a problem of plenty. Yes, team India is in a spot with a problem of plenty. It is not certain who will open in the absence of KL Rahul and Murali Vijay. Had they been playing, the two would have opened in all certainty. It is learnt that, KL Rahul is fighting a viral fever and in all probability won’t recover in time. That opens it up and creates the space for ace Tamil Nadu batsman Abhinav Mukund, who comes into the team on the back of a good Ranji season. But Mukund did not perform well in the warm-ups, he was out for a golden duck. But, it seems like he has the backing of the person who matters, Virat Kohli.
For Rohit Sharma, he has never opened in Tests and hence asking him to open, just because he opens in the limited overs’ version , is quite unfair on him. Rohit Sharma has been successful as an opener in One Day Internationals, but playing in the whites has always been a problem with Rohit Sharma. Hence, it is highly unlikely that we will see Rohit Sharma open with Shikhar Dhawan.
Oh boy! @ImRo45 in full flow at the moment #TeamIndia pic.twitter.com/wXh8yAFj4u
— BCCI (@BCCI) July 25, 2017
Shikhar Dhawan, who last represented India last year, in a way would be making a comeback in the whites. He will be under pressure to get a big score and cement his place in the whites. But it is highly unlikely that they will be persisted with, once Murali Vijay and KL Rahul are fit.
‘Kit’ting up ahead of the Test series #TeamIndia __ pic.twitter.com/6lgJ6aJr3F
— BCCI (@BCCI) July 25, 2017
Come tomorrow, we will have two southpaws open together in all possibility.
READ: @ashwinravi99 all set for Test No. 50 – by @28anand https://t.co/jnNrBHxcNi #SLvIND pic.twitter.com/OkTGRea7mA
— BCCI (@BCCI) July 25, 2017
How can the makeshift openers maximise their opportunities?
Shikhar Dhawan and Abhinav Mukund can score a big hundred and cement their places as the reserve opener. That will create an atmosphere of competition among teammates, that will help the team prosper.
