Gautam Gambhir, KL Rahul, Shikhar Dhawan, Murali Vijay: Opening conundrum intensifies

When there is lack of option, there seems to be a problem. However, when there are many options, it creates a pleasant dilemma for the selectors. The latter is referred as ‘pleasant headache’, because it shows that a particular team is performing well with every player contributing. Similar is the scenario for India’s flamboyant and energetic Test side, who are basking in the glory of a well-deserved whitewash over New Zealand in a three-Test series. It has been a collective effort but has complicated the selectors’ job for deciding India’s openers for their next and much-anticipated series against England. Full cricket scorecard: India vs New Zealand, 3rd Test

After Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir’s reputed opening pair went out of favour, India tried with Murali Vijay and Shikhar Dhawan. The pair persisted for some time with promising starts but Dhawan’s erratic batting, on most occasions, failed to give the team a solid start. India did not have many options, and hence, did not tinker with the openers. In 2014, just when the team was about to be announced for a four-Test series against Australia, former skipper Rahul Dravid backed Karnataka opener KL Rahul for a place in the side.

Add Cricket Country as a Preferred Source

Rahul hogged the limelight in India’s domestic circuit for being one of the leading run-scorers in 2013-14 domestic seasons. The youngster was ticking all the boxes for a place ahead of Dhawan. Vijay had done enough to be sustained in the team with resilient knocks of 97 and 95 against South Africa (Durban) and England (Lord’s) respectively in testing conditions along with a 146-run knock at Trent Bridge. Nonetheless, Rahul was picked in the squad to face Australia, and despite falling cheaply in his first Test, he came back strongly with a swift hundred in the next match.

[read-also]534707,534792[/read-also]

Meanwhile, Vijay also shined with four fifties and one hundred in the tour. Dhawan fell flat with only one solitary fifty to his name. India’s next series was against Bangladesh in a one-off Test, in which Dhawan registered his third ton while Vijay made 150. Rahul was overlooked for this game, as India continued with Vijay-Dhawan until the duo were marred with injuries. Since the Sri Lanka series in 2015 to the recently concluded series against the Kiwis, both Rahul and Dhawan got injured twice.

India opened with Dhawan-Rahul, Vijay-Rahul and Rahul-Cheteshwar Pujara in the series against Sri Lanka. Dhawan scored a gritty century in the first Test but got injured. Meanwhile, Vijay recovered after missing the first Test, played the second and again missed the final Test due to injury. The curious case of having regular openers continued in India’s tour of West Indies in 2016. Vijay-Dhawan remained the first choice for facing the new ball but Vijay’s injury opened the doors for Rahul.

Rahul scored a fleunt 158 in the second Test and got starts in the following innings.

In the first Test against New Zealand, India opted for Rahul-Vijay, and both looked in good touch. But the norm to throw their place with injuries continued haunting them. Rahul departed after the conclusion of the first Test with a hamstring and Dhawan was recalled. He came, failed and again perished with an injury. This brought the 34-year-old Gautam Gambhir back into the squad after two years. Gambhir was in contention for a place in the second Test but Dhawan, being more regular in recent times, was given the nod. Dhawan, however, messed up the chance with no showing, ending up with a thumb injury.

Gambhir opened with Vijay in the final Test at Indore and scored an attractive 29 in the first innings. The drama was not over yet. India did not enforce follow-on to New Zealand, despite having a mammoth lead of 258 runs. Gambhir was on 6 when his shoulder caught him in a fix and forced him to retire hurt. The fourth day started with Vijay getting run-out which once again brought Gambhir in the middle. The left-hander was not ready to teeter away easily and made the most of this opportunity with a valiant and selfless 50 off 56 balls.

This performance of Gambhir may not be remembered by many in future, but it has opened up a riveting and pleasant debate in India’s dugout regarding who should be the openers for the forthcoming home series against England. Had Gambhir not performed, India would have gone with Vijay-Rahul.

Dhawan, apart from being heavily inconsistent, is sidelined for three weeks owing to injury. If Gambhir remains fit and Rahul recovers, this will be a competition between three players for the opening slot. Meanwhile, Dhawan cannot be easily ruled out since the team has backed him for so long.

If we look at the numbers of Vijay, Dhawan and Rahul from Sri Lanka series till the one against New Zealand, it will add to the prevailing confusion (Gambhir was left out since he made his comeback after two years):

Murali Vijay-0, 82, 75, 47, 28*, 40, 5, 12, 3, 7, 65, 76, 9, 7, 10, 19

KL Rahul– 7, 5, 108, 2, 2, 2, 158, 50, 28, 32, 38

Shikhar Dhawan– 134, 7, 0, 0, 45*, 12, 39, 33, 21, 84, 27, 1, 26, 1, 17

Barring one innings where Vijay and Dhawan remained unbeaten (due to rain interruptions in the second Test versus South Africa in 2015), they have played 15 and 14 innings respectively. Vijay has amassed 457 runs at an average of 30.47. On the other hand, Dhawan has compiled 402 runs at 28.74. These numbers are far from impressive in the most gruelling format with a tougher opponent in line next.

Vijay is class-apart. He has all the qualities of a polished opener, as he leaves the ball outside off stump for long. Vijay has patience along with a range of shots that he can unearth when needed. He was decent in the away series against South Africa (2013) and England (2014), but was impressive in Australia too. One would feel he may be retained in the squad to take on Alastair Cook’s side as he is careful against spin and has been at par against the menacing pair of Stuart Broad and James Anderson in the past.

[read-also]534616,529759[/read-also]

But if we look at his last four innings, he got out cheaply. Vijay does not possess a single score in excess of hundred since the one-off series against Bangladesh and has looked out of sorts since the second Test versus New Zealand. He may be losing his touch due to constant injuries and will have to spend long hours in the nets to get his confidence back before India turn up in whites again. Talking about Dhawan, he has one solitary fifty from his last ten innings and such numbers are unacceptable in Test cricket.

Rahul has also been hot and cold in his short career. He has come out to bat for India on 15 occasions. Rahul has three hundreds along with one half-century at 37. 46. This, by no means, is below par but if we take a close look at his stats, he has 7 scores in single digits. Nonetheless, Rahul has matured as a player and is beaming in confidence at the moment. It can be evident from the fact that after a blistering 158-run knock against West Indies, he has managed to remain in double digits so far. Yet, Rahul is always known to be a patient batsman who deals in boundaries by keeping the ball down. In some of his recent innings, Rahul has played too many shots and looked in a hurry, thus causing his downfall.

The Karnataka opener will have to brush up his skills and not let his shorter-format style of play affect his batting in Tests. So, does this bring us to the conclusion that Vijay and Rahul are the best bet as openers against England? The complications do not end here with Gambhir also chipping in the scheme of things. India’s batting coach has already made it clear that Gambhir is one of the important players for the team in their long home season.

Gambhir has been brilliant in the domestic circuit scoring 356 runs at 71.20 in Duleep Trophy 2016-17 and with a 50 in his comeback match; he has showed that he is not done yet. Every team wishes for a left-right combination at the top-order which may compel Virat Kohli and co. to bring in Gambhir at the top. Now, there are two questions remaining. Will Dhawan be overlooked completely and if so, who amongst Rahul-Vijay will be dropped?

For now, the equation has no clear answer. Dhawan is going through a rough patch but is the team finally ready to give up on him? Vijay is still India’s best opener but is suddenly looking out of sorts with a dire need of a big knock. Rahul has grown his stature in all formats but has imbibed the tendency of being careless after getting starts. Gambhir has just made a comeback and looked impressive. But is it still early to make him a permanent in the side, if he remains fit?

The selectors have their hands full with lots to dwell upon and not much time left before India indulges in another mouthwatering clash against England. With three back-to-back defeats against the inventors of the game in Tests, India will like to give it back to the “Poms” in style but for that; they need to have a settled top-order. For now, Vijay and Rahul are two dependable openers, but with Gambhir making a mark and Dhawan’s habit of getting a place into the side somehow, leaves us with no clear picture.

(Aditya Sahay is a journalist with CricketCountry who is completely into sports and loves writing about cricket in general. He can be followed on Twitter at adisahay7)