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After India's defeat against New Zealand in the recently concluded World Test Championship (WTC) final in Southampton, the Indian batsmen have come under the scanner for their inability to score consistently in overseas conditions. A five-match Test series against England is up next and the Indian batting lineup requires a rejig in certain positions.
One such spot is that of the second opener, for which Shubman Gill has been India's choice for the last 8 matches. Gill made a brilliant start to his Test career. In just his third Test, he scored a match winning 91 in the final Test of the 2020-21 Border Gavaskar Trophy. But since then he has struggled to score big runs in the matches he has played. Gill tends to make his way to good starts but has repeatedly gotten out in his 20s and 30s.
With the 21-year-old in poor form ahead of the England series, there is a high chance for him to be replaced by someone else in the playing XI. In this article, we take a look at the two most likely options that the team management might consider as a replacement for Gill in the upcoming series.
1) Mayank Agarwal
Matches: 14 | Runs: 1052 | Average: 45.73 | 100s: 4 | 50s: 3 | Higest Score: 243
Mayank Agarwal has an excellent Test match record as an opener. He began his Test career in Australia in 2018, where he hit an impressive half-century against a world class bowling attack in his very first match.
For the next two years, Mayank's performance as an opener was one of the best in the world. He had excellent home series against Bangladesh and South Africa, where he scored 3 centuries in 5 matches at an astonishing average of 99.50.
However, his form has dipped since. Mayank struggled to cope with the seam and swing in difficult batting conditions, and repeatedly got out for low scores during India's most recent tours of New Zealand and Australia. As a result, the 30-year-old lost his place in the playing XI to Shubman Gill in the Australia series and against England at home.
Mayank has, however, been selected in the India squad for the upcoming five-match series in England. Gill's sudden dip in form could give the Bangalore-born opener a chance to regain his spot in the playing XI. Mayank could very well open with Rohit Sharma in the first Test against England due to his overall record in Tests.
The downside for Mayank is that he has never played a Test in England previously. Scoring runs in these conditions with no prior experience is not an easy task and requires the right mindset and application. In order to play well and cement his place at the top of the order, Mayank has to overcome his technical flaws which were exposed in the series against Australia.
2) KL Rahul
Matches: 36 | Runs: 2006 | Average: 34.59 | 100s: 5 | 50s: 11 | Higest Score: 199
KL Rahul has been one of India's biggest match winners in the shorter formats of the game. However, in Test matches his performances have been quite mediocre over the years, especially in overseas conditions. Rahul has struggled to score runs in seaming conditions against quality bowling attacks. He lost his Test opener spot two years back during the 2019 West Indies series and hasn't played for the side since.
Despite his previous failures, Rahul is still in contention to regain his Test opener's spot in the upcoming England series for two main reasons. First, he has prior experience of opening the batting for India in Tests in England. Although he failed to score big in the first four Tests of the 2018 England tour, Rahul played a magnificent knock of 149 in the fifth Test. The innings displayed his capability to score big runs as a Test opener.
Another reason Rahul might receive the nod is that he is a much more mature and technically sound cricketer now than he was three years ago. Including him in the team could provide India experience as well as runs at the top alongside Rohit Sharma.
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