India vs South Africa: Rohit Sharma, Abhimanyu Easwaran or Priyank Panchal to partner opener Mayank Agarwal in the Test series

India might have just came back with a 100% result against West Indies after winning all the series in different formats, at the Caribbean land, but their openers were not up to the mark throughout the tour. India returned with optimum points in their maiden assignment of the World Test Championship and now the players are resting back in their yards.

On Thursday selectors have planned a meeting for the selection of squad against South Africa for the 3-match Test series which will be held next month. The main agenda for the meeting will be the regular failure of the openers in consecutive series that indirectly heaps the pressure on the middle order which sometimes turns out to be very fatal as far as the team is concerned.

Rohit likely to open the innings

The white ball vice-captain Rohit Sharma didn’t get a single chance to perform in Tests in Caribbean land but after the successive failures of Lokesh Rahul, it is mostly expected that selectors might select the destructive Indian ODI opener Rohit as their first choice opener in the upcoming series against South Africa. Lokesh Rahul, who is considered a favorite of the team management, has scored 664 runs in his last 30 Tests and has only managed to get 195 runs in last 12 innings from his batting.

Youngster Mayank Agarawal has performed well in Tests which almost confirms his spot in the team but the problem for the selectors is that who will successfully partner him in an important series against Proteas. Rohit Sharma is currently in contention with the domestic players like Abhimanyu Easwaran, Priyank Panchal who has been in prolific form with their bat but if selectors go for the experienced Rohit Sharma, then their wait for the India jersey will be prolonged. In recently concluded World Cup Rohit Sharma smashed record 5 centuries which shows how perfect he is for the opening position in the team.

There are no big changes expected in the squad for this series. Ravi Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, and Kuldeep Yadav are the expected choices of the selectors for the post of spinners whereas the omission of Bhuvneshwar Kumar is almost confirmed from the squad who is not available due to fitness issues. Instead of him, Hardik Pandya or else Navdeep Saini are the biggest contenders for that vacant spot. Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami and Ishant Sharma are the expected pacers to feature in the team looking forward to their performances in recent past.