Gautam Gambhir Hints At KL Rahul to Open in Perth: On the day of his flight to Australia, India head coach Gautam Gambhir refused to confirm the availability or unavailability status of captain Rohit Sharma for the first Test against Australia. But he did say he is ready with multiple options should the skipper miss the Perth Test.
The Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) will get underway on November 22 in Perth. Five Indian players—Akash Deep, Mohammed Siraj, Shubman Gill, Washington Sundar, and Yashasvi Jaiswal—have already departed for Australia, while KL Rahul and Dhruv Jurel went before everyone else to play in the second India A vs Australia A fixture.
The rest of the members, including the coaching staff, will leave later today. However, it cannot be confirmed yet, and neither did Gambhir reveal whether Rohit will be on the flight or not.
Captain Rohit Sharma is in doubt for the first Test against Australia in Perth due to personal reasons. After the conclusion of the home Test series against New Zealand, Sharma said he “wasn’t too sure if I’ll be going to [Perth]. But let’s see. Fingers crossed.”
Gautam Gambhir Hints At KL Rahul to Open in Perth if Rohit Misses, Bumrah to Lead the Side
If Rohit does miss the Perth Test, then Gambhir is likely to turn towards KL Rahul, who had been given the middle-order role last year and did well but was dropped during the home series against New Zealand as Sarfaraz Khan smashed his maiden Test ton.
Rahul has prior experience of opening in SENA countries with success. He is, in fact, one of the only two openers who have hit centuries in Australia, England, and South Africa since 1992. However, he failed in both innings against Australia A, though it was on a tough MCG pitch.
On Monday, Gambhir said,
“There are times when you go with the experienced players as well. And that is the quality of the man. That he can bat at the top of the order; he can bat at No. 3, and he can actually bat at No. 6 as well. You need quite a lot of talent to be doing these kinds of jobs as well. And he’s kept wickets in the one-day format as well.
“Imagine how many countries have players like KL who can open the batting and can bat at No. 6 as well? So I feel if need be, he can do the job for us, especially if Rohit is not available for the first Test match.”
Uncapped Abhimanyu Easwaran is one opening option, but he managed scores of 7, 12, 0 and 17 in the two games against Australia A, and India might not want to throw him in Perth for his debut Test. Shubman Gill, who opened on the previous trip in 2020/21 in Australia, is also an option, but since he’s cemented his position at No. 3 this year, shifting him wouldn’t be a wise choice.
Gambhir confirmed that if Rohit Sharma is unavailable for the first Test, Jasprit Bumrah would be given the captaincy duties. Bumrah has led India in one Test match—against England at Edgbaston in 2022.
The head coach stated, “Bumrah is the vice-captain so obviously he will [be the captain] if Rohit is not available.”
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