Sourav Ganguly feels Rohit Sharma is the best bet to replace KL Rahul as a Test opener

The Indian team whitewashed West Indies in the two-match Test series 2-0 and earned 120 points in the inaugural ICC World Test Championship. The performance of the visitors was lauded by everyone as it was the bowlers who impressed the maximum along with the middle order coming to fore. The home team just couldn’t stand up to the fiery Indian fast bowlers, as admitted by the West Indies all-time greats themselves.

Jasprit Bumrah, Ishant Sharma and Mohammed Shami blew the Windies batting away, with Bumrah and Ishant picking five-wicket hauls and the right-hand fast bowler from Gujarat even adding a hat-trick to his already impressive Test haul. The batting was amazing with Rahane and Hanuma Vihari scoring big runs, but the major disappointment was opener KL Rahul’s ongoing inconsistent form. There were calls for him to be replaced by someone and Sourav Ganguly has named his choice for the same.

Rohit Sharma can replace KL Rahul as the opener in India’s Test team

Prithvi Shaw was fit and raring to go to West Indies, but a doping violation saw KL Rahul retaining his spot in the Test team. He had a fairly decent ICC World Cup 2019 and was hoping to translate some form into the longest format as well. However, was resulted was him scoring 101 runs in four innings at an average of 25.25. His technique and form were questioned by everyone as was dismissed for 13 and 6 in the second Test, both times fending off balls to slips.

Former India captain Sourav Ganguly feels its time to move on from Rahul as an opener and instead put his money on Rohit Sharma at the top of the order. “KL Rahul has flattered to deceive and that creates an opening at the top. I had suggested earlier about trying Rohit Sharma as an opener in Test cricket and I still believe that he needs to be given an opportunity because he is too good a player to be left out in the cold. After a fantastic World Cup, I believe he will be itching to grab the opportunity to open in Tests,” Ganguly wrote in his column for Times of India.

Rohit Sharma has a decent record in Tests with 1585 runs in 27 Tests with 3 hundreds and 10 half-centuries. He averages 36.62 in the format with the highest score of 177. He recently came off an amazing outing in World Cup 2019 where he smoked a world record five centuries. He was poised to return to the Test side, but the team management stuck with Vihari, who made 93, 111 and another half-century to cement his spot for future matches.

Watch: 8 Wonders of International Cricket