Ravi Shastri reveals Team India's first choice openers for the tour of South Africa

Ravi Shastri took over from Anil Kumble as India coach after Kumble and skipper Kohli had some differences between the two. Ever since Shastri arrived, India has dominated almost every opponent they have faced. With assistance from Sanjay Bangar, Bharat Arun and Ramakrishnan Sridhar, Shastri along with Kohli have stamped India’s dominance at home.

After Sri Lanka series gets over, India are set to travel abroad a lot. First, they go to South Africa for a long tour in January. Then they go to England and Australia for a full-fledged series. India currently is ranked number 1 in the world in the longest format of the game. Their performance away from home has been not great and Shastri along with Kohli and team would like to register success abroad as well.

During an interview with CNN18 when asked about Shastri’s choice for the openers during the South Africa tour, Shastri was quick to suggest that India will open with left and right combination of Shikhar Dhawan and Murali Vijay. KL Rahul who’s had a great success in the recent games had to sit out of the side once Murali Vijay was fit. He announced his return with a century.

Shastri while answering the question Shastri stressed on having an experienced player at the top. “You look at experience, you look at variety so that’s what Shikhar brings in, a left hand, right-hand combination so he is a must. He has got lots of runs. Vijay the most experienced and a very good record overseas and he brings solidity,” said India’s head coach Shastri.

Ravi Shastri on KL Rahul

While taking nothing away from KL Rahul as he said that he is an immensely talented player and has improved a lot but he did fail to convert his starts into the big ones. “Young Rahul is immensely talented and he will get his opportunity at some stage. He might have to wait for a while but he will get his opportunity think he was the most improved player in the last 18 months. it’s just unfortunate that he didn’t convert those 60s into 150s but he will learn,” said 55-year-old Mumbai born Shastri.