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POLL: Gautam Gambhir, Rohit Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara or Shikhar Dhawan – who should open for India in 2nd Test?

Vote for the player, who according to you, should open with Murali Vijay in the second Test.

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India won the first Test of the series against New Zealand at Green Park Stadium, Kanpur but the victory brought a bad news for the side in the form of opener KL Rahul getting injured. With his injury, the spot for another opener other than Murali Vijay is surely a big opportunity for some players, especially if they get to play. Two players are mainly in contention for the vacant spot and they are Shikhar Dhawan, who is already in the squad and Gautam Gambhir, who has done very well in the recently concluded Duleep Trophy 2016 and going by media reports, he is expected to be back in the side for next Test.

Well, going by the logic, if Dhawan is already in the squad, then there should be no more discussion about bringing someone else in the side to open. True, that he has been quite inconsistent and before the series, he was expected to be dropped but these are home conditions and if Dhawan is in the side, he should be the first one to be given another chance to prove his worth. Coming to Gambhir, it’s a fact that he played very well in the Duleep Trophy this year by scoring 356 runs at 71.20 from three matches.

But to make a comeback into the national side, a player should not be selected on the basis of his performance in a three-match tournament. In fact, he should prove himself by performing consistently in the domestic circuit so that there should be no question over his selection. Also, if Gambhir gets selected to the Indian side for next two matches of the series then there will be a question for captain Virat Kohli, as to whom to give chance —Gambhir or Dhawan? Gambhir is a kind of player who cannot be kept out from the playing XI if he is in the squad and Kohli has much better understanding with Dhawan as compared to the former. It will be huge conundrum for the Delhi lad on whom to take in his playing XI from other two Delhi batsmen — Dhawan and Gambhir.

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Well, this was the talk over Dhawan and Gambhir but what if Kohli opts for Rohit Sharma as opener? Also, not to forget about Rohit’s affair with Eden Gardens, Kolkata, where he made his debut by playing a brilliant knock of 177 runs against West Indies in 2013. Not only in Tests, his best One-Day knock of 264 runs also came at the same venue. This may bring him also into consideration for the opener’s role.

Coming to the fourth choice, Cheteshwar Pujara is probably the best currently as compared to other three. Pujara is known as a middle-order batsman but he has opened on many occasions in domestic circuit as well as for India. In the four Tests he has opened for India, Pujara’s average of 116 is the best as compared to his batting at other positions. It was Pujara who carried the bat in the first innings of the third Test against Sri Lank at Colombo.

Going by the recent success rate among these four players, Pujara looks to be the prominent one but by logic Dhawan should get the chance as he was also seen being given net practice during open session by the coach Anil Kumble just after the first match ended at Kanpur. Infact, Kumble was bowling to him and such type of practice for a batsman suggests that he is going to play the next game.

Well, be it what the logic says or which player looks prominent or who should Kohli go with, let us give you a chance to vote and see what is going in the fans’ mind. Vote for the player, who according to you, should open with Vijay in the second Test.

 

(Abhishek Kumar is a cricket devotee currently staffing with CricketCountry.com. He can be followed on Twitter @abhik2593 and on Facebook at abhicricket.kumar)

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