Which openers should India take to Aus

[PokerAce]

Its getting more and more clear that Dhawan, Vijay and Gambhir are not the solutions. I know Vijay had a hundred on the Eng tour, but regularly failed since. Also in SA and NZ he has failed regularly. Dhawan is so out of form that he is hardly selectable in ODIs let alone tests. Gambhir is more or less done.

So who then do we go with for Australia. Also if its someone new they would ideally like to get some experience which means kind of Automatic selection for the WI series. One option is to have Rahane open in tests. Or do you persist with the three who were on tour here.

Thoughts?

 

[abhi_jacko]

Vijay will definitely go to Australia. He is in the classical opener mould, and just needs to get mentally stronger. Once he has fought the tough conditions and the new ball, he needs to dig in and convert that time spent into big scores. Can be developed with experience. And he is actually a one of the better players of short deliveries.

Gambhir is a no-go. He needs to score at the domestic level first.

If Dhawan is able to get some form going in the ODIs then he will be in contention. I think he will continue to be out first choice opener in Australia unless he performs horribly in the next couple of months.

I wouldn't want Rahane to be suddenly pushed into the opener role because he looks very settled at no.5.

New guy - could be KL Rahul, although he is a wicketkeeper.

 

[grkrama]

I know Vijay had a hundred on the Eng tour, but regularly failed since.

vijay is the only solid opener we have got, he atleast is there for 60 odd balls.even in sa and nz he blunted the new ball effectively which is the key for someone like pujara and kohli to perform.
this may be shocking but i wouldnt mind trying nohit as opener in test too if dhawan is not firing.We actually need someone firing there.

 

[grkrama]

if raina can oversome his short ball problem and prove his credentials as a FC player, then may be we can consider moving rahanae up and slot raina at six.

 

[PokerAce]

To sum up what you have said so far, Vijay gets in, and I know because he has a century here he more or less gets selected for Australia. Even if he doesn't score buckets of runs, but just sees out the new ball that will in itself be a big task. For the other two I am not convinced at all, that it should be Dhawan. I mean Dhawan over Gambhir is an obvious choice, and maybe Dhawan could go as a back up opener. KL Rahul is not a poor option, though he didn't have a great tour with Ind A on Aus A.

Raina I don't is ever going to play test cricket with any kind of reglarity abroad.

 

[SaiSrini]

More than Vijay's Trent Bridge hundred, it was that 90 odd that he scored in the second innings of Lord's (in a very memorable win) that really cements his position for quite sometime to come, as India's confirmed test opener. He has to be persisted with for quite sometime. Keep him away from ODI's and just make him a specialist test guy.

For the other opener, I will still keep Dhawan in the hunt. But the third guy should definitely not be Gambhir. To me, Gambhir and Sehwag are finished cases. Its time to move on to someone new. KL Rahul is one candidate who has shown lot of promise in domestic circuit. Could also have a look at Jiwanjot Singh (heard things about him). Whoever it is, it should be a technically good batsman and not someone who scores a lot of runs but technique wise is not as adept (like Dhawan, Sehwag, etc). We dont need another Dhawan type guy as our backup opener.

 

[abhi_jacko]

Backing Dhawan can be a two-edged sword. On one hand, he has proven that he can graft it out and put up a big score - his second innings ton in NZ was almost as good as Vijay's monk-like Trent Bridge hundred. So he has the goods to deliver. But the downside to that is, he might end up being another Rohit Sharma who got a ridiculously long handle simply because he was supposed to be talented.

I think if he can sort out his short ball issues, he might prefer Australian pitches over the English ones. Not as much lateral movement and true bounce onto the bat

 

[PokerAce]

More than Vijay's Trent Bridge hundred, it was that 90 odd that he scored in the second innings of Lord's (in a very memorable win) that really cements his position for quite sometime to come, as India's confirmed test opener. He has to be persisted with for quite sometime. Keep him away from ODI's and just make him a specialist test guy.

For the other opener, I will still keep Dhawan in the hunt. But the third guy should definitely not be Gambhir. To me, Gambhir and Sehwag are finished cases. Its time to move on to someone new. KL Rahul is one candidate who has shown lot of promise in domestic circuit. Could also have a look at Jiwanjot Singh (heard things about him). Whoever it is, it should be a technically good batsman and not someone who scores a lot of runs but technique wise is not as adept (like Dhawan, Sehwag, etc). We dont need another Dhawan type guy as our backup opener.

Yeah I agree that Lord's innings was just stunning, albeit it came in the second innings when batting was easier, but still that track was something ! Also Jiwanjot Singh I think was the highest scorer in Ranjis last year. Didn't know he was an opener, but yeah he or KL Rahul should go to Australia, which means playing against WI.

I agree Sehwag and Gambhir are done.[DOUBLEPOST=1408655824][/DOUBLEPOST]

Backing Dhawan can be a two-edged sword. On one hand, he has proven that he can graft it out and put up a big score - his second innings ton in NZ was almost as good as Vijay's monk-like Trent Bridge hundred. So he has the goods to deliver. But the downside to that is, he might end up being another Rohit Sharma who got a ridiculously long handle simply because he was supposed to be talented.

I think if he can sort out his short ball issues, he might prefer Australian pitches over the English ones. Not as much lateral movement and true bounce onto the bat

As for Rohit I am so done with him that I cannot tell you.

I think Dhawan's knock in NZ was better that the one Vijay played in the first test, because that pitch had nothing for anyone.

 

[SaiSrini]

I have heard nice things about KL Rahul. Heard he is one of those rare guys in today's times (like Pujara) who is a very test mould batsman.

 

[sifter132]

You must also consider their records vs Australia. That is the bowling they'll be facing after all. Vijay and Dhawan did very well in the 2013 Tests vs Australia in India, so that would definitely be in the back of the minds of the Australians. Vijay is a lock, no question - based on that Australia series and he's been decent enough recently. And if Dhawan is in form, he should be there too. Gambhir struggled on the last tour of Australia, I agree with others that say he's almost done. Really needs some time to recuperate his game in FC cricket, but you can't get that in India these days...

 

[PokerAce]

You must also consider their records vs Australia. That is the bowling they'll be facing after all. Vijay and Dhawan did very well in the 2013 Tests vs Australia in India, so that would definitely be in the back of the minds of the Australians. Vijay is a lock, no question - based on that Australia series and he's been decent enough recently. And if Dhawan is in form, he should be there too. Gambhir struggled on the last tour of Australia, I agree with others that say he's almost done. Really needs some time to recuperate his game in FC cricket, but you can't get that in India these days...

Yeah Gambhir is done. ALso I am not too keen on the openers going on the basis of past performances in Ind. I mean they have failed in Eng and in Aus they are going to face something much similar to Eng than Ind. Hence my worriees on Dhawan. Having said this taking someone totally new to face Johnson and co. has its own issues.

Vijay will go, he did get a few good scores among a lot of no scores in England.

The problem for Ind is there is nothing in between right now. Either absolute high or nothing at all. Either they score a hundred of less than 20.

 

[abhi_jacko]

I have heard nice things about KL Rahul. Heard he is one of those rare guys in today's times (like Pujara) who is a very test mould batsman.

I can vouch for him having played alongside him in DBC career mode. He just strung together 3 consecutive tons over 2 FC and one List A game. A delight to watch from the other end

 

[greymatter776]

Let me put no suggestions till I see how the ODIs in England goes.