Windies vs India: Sourav Ganguly wants Rohit Sharma to open the batting in Tests

Rohit Sharma, in the first years of his career, batted in the middle order. But it was after he started opening the batting since 2013 that he started scaling new heights. He already has three double centuries in ODI cricket and four tons in T20 Internationals. Recently, the Mumbai batsman became the first batter to rack up as many as five centuries in a single edition of the World Cup.

Rohit is now set to be a part of India’s journey in the ICC World Test Championship. The opening Test will be played at the North Sound, Antigua. Ahead of the encounter, Sourav Ganguly, the former Indian cricketer feels that India will face the dilemma of making a choice between Rohit and Ajinkya Rahane. While the former has been in scintillating form, Rahane has had his travails of late.

Let Rohit carry on his good form from the World Cup

“The major decision is whether they want to play Rohit or Rahane,” Ganguly wrote in his exclusive column for The Times of India (TOI). “Rohit was in blistering form in the World Cup, but in Tests in South Africa and Australia, he was ‘on and off’. Rahane was not his usual self in Australia,” Ganguly, who played 113 Tests in his career, mentioned.

In the meantime, Ganguly also said that Rohit should open the batting, allowing him to carry on with his rich vein of form from the mega event in England and Wales. As per the retired batsman, Rahane should carry on batting in the middle order.

“My suggestion would be to let Rohit carry on his good form from the World Cup and settle in the opener’s slot while Rahane continues his good work of lending stability to the middle order,” Ganguly stated.

Pant should be starting ahead of Wriddhiman

It’s also a series where Wriddhiman Saha is making his comeback. He has suffered from quite a few injuries over the last 17 months or so. His last international appearance came in the Test series versus South Africa earlier last year. However, he will now have to compete with a young Rishabh Pant, who already has a couple of Test centuries, after making his debut last year.

Ganguly reckons that Pant should start ahead of Saha in the eleven, especially after how he has performed in red-ball cricket in the last year or so. “After his impressive showing in test cricket in Australia and England, Rishabh Pant should be starting ahead of Wriddhiman,” he added.

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