Australia vs India: VVS Laxman pins hopes on the Indian openers to come good in Melbourne

India had selected three openers- Prithvi Shaw, Murali Vijay and KL Rahul- for the ongoing tour of Australia. However, they were encountered with a body blow as Shaw developed an ankle injury in the warm-up match against Cricket Australia XI and was subsequently ruled out. To add to the visiting team’s agony, the likes of Vijay and Rahul haven’t been able to step up by any stretch of the imagination.

Even as Vijay has crawled to 50 runs in the series at an average of 12.50, Rahul has only been able to notch 48 runs at a dismal average of 12 with 44 of those runs coming in the second innings of the opening Test in Adelaide that India won by 31 runs. Meanwhile, despite the poor show, VVS Laxman, the former Indian cricketer, hopes that the openers will come back strong in the third Test in Melbourne.

A confident Laxman

“Unfortunately, Prithvi Shaw has been ruled out. It is very important to address that issue because that is one area which is of prominence and is very important when you are playing in overseas conditions. Because, as openers, if you can set and lay a foundation, then it will allow the middle-order to come and play their natural game,” Laxman was quoted as saying in an interview with Times Now.

Because, if you have to beat the home side in their own conditions, then it is very important to post a big total in the first innings. The way the openers start off, invariably that gives an opportunity for the team to score an above-par total. So I am hoping that the openers will fire and will give a very good and positive start to the Indian batting,” he added.

Rahul and Vijay also have the worst average (20.88) among opening pairs, which have played 25 or more innings in Test cricket. The Melbourne Test is scheduled to get underway on Wednesday, December 26, Boxing Day and the duo would be desperate to find their feet in red-ball cricket. The fourth and final encounter will be played from Thursday, January 3 at the renowned Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG).

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