3 opening pairs for India if Rohit Sharma misses out England Test

After skipper Rohit Sharma has tested positive for COVID-19, his availability is in question due to which things are not looking good for India as far as the opening combination is concerned for the rescheduled final Test against England. If Rohit fails to recover in time for the Edgbaston Test, the team management will not only have to find a new skipper, but also a solid opening pair who could face the threat of James Anderson and Stuart Broad.

With Mayank Agarwal recently called as cover for Rohit, SK Bharat was tried as an opener alongside Shubman Gill in their warm-up game against Leicestershire, which opened one of the opening pairs that India can look at. Along with that, Cheteshwar Pujara and Hanuma Vihari, who once opened in Australia, could be another option to face the new ball. On that note, let’s take a look at-

Three opening pairs that India can look at if Rohit Sharma misses out against England

1. Shubman Gill & Mayank Agarwal

When KL Rahul was ruled out of the England tour due to injury, India didn’t call in a replacement for Rahul because they had a backup opener in the form of Shubman Gill. If Rohit doesn’t recover, Gill will automatically make it to the XI as an opener.

In the only warm-up game, he performed fairly okay, scoring 21 off 28 balls and 38 off 34 balls, but failed to convert the start into big innings. However, the 22-year-old batter has the experience of opening an innings in England when he batted at the top in the 2021 World Test Championship (WTC) final.

With the inclusion of Mayank Agarwal, there is a possibility that he could open up with Gill due to the fact that the Karnataka batter has prior experience of opening the batting. However, he will have just 2-3 days to prepare but his aggressive style of batting makes him an ideal contender to make his place in the XI.

2. Shubman Gill & KS Bharat

The wicketkeeper-batter KS Bharat is the only uncapped player in the squad but his warm-up game innings has shown that he is not far away from making his Test debut. Bharat looked more comfortable than some of the other batters in the warm-up game. In the first innings, when others found it hard to bat, the Karnataka batter played a fine knock of 70 off 111 balls to help India close to the 250-run mark.

In the second innings, team management experimented with Bharat as an opener alongside Gill and it proved to be a great success. He played impressive innings of 43 runs from 98 balls, including seven fours. In Rohit’s absence, India could look to Bharat as an opener considering his great form for the crucial Test match.

Bharat’s rock-solid defense and ability to build the innings presented a strong case for pairing with Gill. This makes them an ideal pair to go with in the Edgbaston Test. Bharat, who plays for Andhra Pradesh in first-class cricket, has impressive numbers. In 79 matches, he has scored 4289 runs at an average of 36.65.

3. Mayank Agarwal & KS Bharat

The third opening pair will be Mayank and Bharat. While that may seem like the most improbable option, it is something to think about if Gill plays in the middle order. Mayank has been named as the team’s backup opener and Rohit’s participation is a doubt which means the team might rely on him in the top order.

Much like Gill, Mayank has quite a similar batting approach who will adjunct Bharat if Rahul Dravid decides them to be looked at as the opening pair and Gill can bat at No. 3 or NO. 5. The move will also be out-of-the-box. Neither of the batters has played Test cricket in England and maybe this move worked out in the favor of the visitors.

Mayank was a part of the Karnataka team during the 2021-22 Ranji Trophy quarter-finals against Uttar Pradesh. Meanwhile, it will be interesting to see how Bharat performs if he gets his maiden call-up.