Australia vs India: Shashi Tharoor recommends India's opening pair for the Boxing Day Test

The Indian tour of Australia has generated a lot of interest. With both the teams on par and such high competitiveness, the pressure has certainly escalated in the Indian dressing room. The Indian team has been struck with injuries. Earlier, Rohit Sharma and Ravichandran Ashwin missed out the second Test at Perth. The latest to be ruled out of the series is Prithvi Shaw.

While the Indian openers have failed to make a mark in the series so far, Shaw’s injury further adds to the existing batting woes. The youngster had a dream debut against West Indies where he scored a century and a half century. Even Shashi Tharoor who is a known cricket enthusiast felt that it was a huge blow to India’s chances in the series.

Perhaps we should ask Ashwin to open with Mayank

The Indian politician keeps presenting his cricketing views every now and then. The Congress MP also expressed concern over Shaw’s injury. He is of the opinion that Ravichandran Ashwin should be tried at the top of the innings alongside debutant Mayank Agarwal. In his view that would give India an extra batting option in the middle order.

“The departure of @PrithviShaw is a bigger setback than the Test loss to Australia. Perhaps we should ask @ashwinravi99 to open with Mayank Agarwal now? He has an organised defence & a calm head on his shoulders. And that wld free up a slot for a middle-order bat or all-rounder,” Tharoor tweeted.

The recent form of both openers KL Rahul and Murali Vijay has been absolutely disappointing. While Rahul has 48 runs in four innings, Vijay betters him by one run. With Team India totally dependant on players like Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara, the Australian bowlers have managed to make life difficult for the Indian batting line-up.

Agarwal was called up in the squad for the final two Tests as a replacement for Shaw, he in all likelihood will make his debut in the MCG Test.

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