England vs India: Sourav Ganguly puts forth his version of India's top three for Birmingham Test

The first of the five-match Test series between England and India is scheduled to begin on August 1 at Edgbaston in Birmingham. Earlier, Virat Kohli and his men played a warm-up match against Essex at County Ground in Chelmsford as a part of their preparation. The team performed reasonably well, however, the top order couldn’t quite live up to expectations and faltered under trying conditions.

While Murali Vijay and KL Rahul chipped in with a couple of useful knocks, the likes of Shikhar Dhawan and Cheteshwar Pujara failed to stave off the opposition bowling attack. Dhawan ended up bagging a pair and could face only four balls in the entire match. Meanwhile, Sourav Ganguly, the former Indian cricketer, reckons Dhawan shouldn’t play the opening Test.

I like Rahul technically and he has been successful overseas

Rather, he wants KL Rahul as Murali Vijay’s opening partner. The retired cricketer mentioned that Dhawan’s record in overseas conditions are not as impressive as Rahul’s and also praised the latter’s batting technique. Moreover, he said that he would be surprised if the national team opts for Dhawan ahead of the 26-year-old from Karnataka.

“Dhawan’s history on overseas pitches hasn’t been very impressive. He goes overseas, fails to perform and gets dropped after a few Test matches. He has played amazing cricket in the subcontinent and recently scored a century against Afghanistan before lunch.

Rahul, on the other hand, has scored a hundred in Australia, played well in South Africa and West Indies too. I like him technically and he has been successful overseas. I’ll be surprised if India choose not to open with Murali Vijay and Rahul in the first Test,” Ganguly was quoted as saying in IndiaTV. 1.

Cheteshwar Pujara couldn’t perform in the practice match and was dismissed cheaply. He also strained to perform for Yorkshire in the County Championship having scored only 172 runs in 12 innings. Nevertheless, Ganguly talked about his erstwhile performances in foreign conditions and hailed him as a better player than Dhawan in foreign conditions.

“Pujara is not in good form. He recently played county cricket and his average was just 13-14. However, in his last Test at the Wanderers, where India won the third Test, he scored a fifty. He has a century in South Africa to his name.

He hasn’t been up to the mark in England, but has played better than Dhawan in countries like South Africa, West Indies and England,” the former cricketer added.

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