5 Indian Test issues that remain unanswered

Openers: KL Rahul vs Shikhar Dhawan vs Murali Vijay

CRICKET-SRI-IND

Another selection question that has pervaded Virat Kohli’s captaincy has been the choice of openers in the test side. Ever since KL Rahul’s emergence as a test batsman, he has competed with relative veterans Shikhar Dhawan and Murali Vijay for the two test spots.

This has been a good problem to have for Kohli as all three openers have performed when given the opportunity (at least in Indian conditions).

However, he hasn’t had to tackle this question very frequently considering that one of these players has usually been injured. This isn’t in the case for the England series, as all three are fit.

Vijay has been the mainstay of the side on most occasions, as the most experienced player. The Tamil Nadu batsman also has a history of performing well in foreign conditions, he even scored a vital hundred in the last tour to England.

In the South Africa series, Rahul replaced Dhawan after the first test as the latter continued to struggle in foreign conditions (he averages a lowly 27.81 in England, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand). Rahul like Vijay has shown an ability to perform well in foreign conditions- scoring a hundred in Australia.

Yet, Dhawan is the in-form batsman- scoring a quick hundred against Afghanistan which earned him the Man of the Match. On the other hand, Vijay and Rahul also performed well in that game (scoring a hundred and fifty respectively).

In the end, it will come down to what the management values: explosiveness (Dhawan), experience (Vijay) or technical excellence (Rahul).