A dependable Shikhar Dhawan and a supremely talented KL Rahul
A dependable Shikhar Dhawan and a supremely talented KL Rahul will compete for the opening spot.
Despite a top-heavy Indian batting line-up aiming for change and showing more intent against a brave Bangladesh in the three-match ODI series, which begins Sunday.
Having a lot of options sometimes leads to more confusion among the team’s regulars, which is not necessarily a good thing.
The coach tries to give everyone equal opportunities when there are options with similar skill sets, but this leaves no settled lineup, which is not ideal when a big event is coming up.
The Indian white ball team is going through that particular phase right now.
In the past, India’s preferred opening pair for ODIs was Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan.
There were few questions or debates regarding their selection.
However, there will undoubtedly be opportunities given Dhawan’s sluggish approach in the Powerplay overs and Gill’s development into a potent 50-over opener.
KL Rahul played a few games in the middle order during the final phase of Ravi Shastri’s coaching tenure.
But he prefers to bat at the top and has had some success there as well.
Ironically, the numbers alone will not tell us who should play Rohit’s opening partner in the series.
Dhawan had a low strike rate of 75.11 in the 19 ODI innings he played for India in 2022.
Between 2016 and 2018, it was 101, and between 2019 and 21, it fell, but remained steady at 91.
Rahul appears to be a superior candidate
Rahul appears to be a superior candidate with five hundred and ten fifties in 45 ODIs, a healthy strike rate of 85 or higher, and an impressive average of 45.
However, Rahul will undoubtedly replace Rohit at the top for the opening match if the management of the team wishes to rest a jet-lagged Dhawan, who has traveled all the way from Australia to join the team in Mirpur.
Despite some underwhelming performances in the recently concluded series, Pant remains the first-choice keeper in the 50-over format.
Kishan, who prefers opening in T20, has scored all three of his half-centuries in ODIs batting at either No.3 or 4.
Since it is believed that Kishan is not being considered a finisher, he must be positioned in the top four if he is played.
But if Rahul decides to keep wickets, which he has done occasionally in the past, this whole equation could be turned upside down.
Rajat Patidar and Rahul Tripathi, two consistent domestic cricket and IPL performers.
They will want a chance to stay in the mix despite the absence of Sanju Samson in this series.
Tripathi bowls seam-up material
Tripathi bowls seam-up material which may serve as a backup option in the absence of Hardik Pandya, who has been rested due to workload.
It seems likely that Deepak Chahar, Mohammed Siraj, and Shardul Thakur will start against a Bangladesh team that won’t have regular captain Tamim Iqbal.