After Prithvi Shaw’s injury, Twitterati wants Rohit to play first Test as opener

The sudden injury to youngster Prithvi Shaw days ahead of the first Test against Australia in Adelaide is a blow for the visitors but also, it might have made it easier for the team management to zero in on the actual openers for the game. Shaw’s ruling out means India have an option less for the opening pair and the fans feel veteran Rohit Sharma should be pushed higher up the order.

The only practice game that India were scheduled to play ahead of the Test series concluded on Saturday in a draw but a number of Indian batsmen got runs in the game which would have made it difficult for the think tank to pick the playing XI for Adelaide game.

KL Rahul, who earned batting coach Sanjay Bangar’s wrath after failing in the first innings, scored 62 in the second while the other opener, Murali Vijay, who has also been out of short for a while, hit 129 off just 132 deliveries in the second essay.

Rahul-Vijay seem to be India’s openers in Adelaide

The injury to debut centurion Shaw who twisted his ankle while fielding in the game against Cricket Australia XI in Sydney now leaves Virat Kohli to pick the openers in Rahul and Vijay but the Twitterati feels Rohit should be tried for the opening slot.

Rohit, who made a comeback in the Indian Test squad after almost a year now, has never opened in Tests though he is one of the team’s most prolific scorers in that position in limited-overs cricket. He has played in positions three to six in Tests for his less-than-impressive 1,479 runs in 25 matches at an average of less than 40.

The batsman was discarded from the longer format after a poor show in South Africa earlier this year and after missing games against Afghanistan, England and Windies, Rohit was called back following his magnificent run with the bat in the limited-over formats.

Twitterati came up with the wish to play Rohit as an opener against Australia:

India shd have try @ImRo45 as an opener at least for first test. We all know Adelaide is good track to bat on specially earlier in the innings. He might give good start to the team which is must in overseas toir. #AUSvsIND

— IBRAHIM KHALEEL (@IAMSYEDKHALEEL) November 30, 2018

I would eager to see @ImRo45 open for india

— Maulik barot (@007_mak) November 30, 2018

Rohit Sharma is the greatest opener in modern cricket. I'm sure MSD would have gone with him.

But knowing my current captain and his single digit IQ, he'd prolly prefer Mayank Agarwal.

— Vyz. (@TheFScott) November 30, 2018

Then @ImRo45 should be given a chance to open the innings In Adelaide test

— వైభవ్ #WITHPK 💪💪💪💪 (@VaibhavPawanism) November 30, 2018

@imVkohli please give one chance for Rohit Sharma as opener in test cricket .just try as this experiments

— Sudeepspoojary784 (@Sudeepspoojary2) November 30, 2018

Get the latest Cricket News and updates from Australia vs India series, Match Predictions, Fantasy Cricket Tips and lots more on CricTracker.com.