Jasprit Bumrah’s spells aside, the starts from Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul were equally crucial in India taking a 2-1 lead after four games on their previous Test tour of England in 2021. A series win on English soil didn’t happen, though, as India lost the rescheduled fifth and final Test in Birmingham in July 2022.
Importantly, in both the Tests that India had won, at Lord’s and The Oval, former captain Rohit and Rahul had forged strong opening stands to set the game up for the rest of the batting group.
This time, when India tour England in June for a five-Test series, there will be no Rohit as he has retired from the longest format, while Rahul is being preferred in the middle order for his expertise in that position. So, with just over a month left for the first Test against the Englishmen at Leeds, beginning on June 20, it’s unclear who will be partnering Yashasvi Jaiswal at the top.
With Ruturaj Gaikwad uncertain as he is still recovering from an elbow injury, India are left with two batsmen who can accompany Jaiswal at the top — Abhimanyu Easwaran and Sai Sudharsan. Easwaran is the specialist opener among the two, with Sudharsan essentially a No.3 batter.
To talk of Easwaran, he has already been in the Team India squad as a reserve opener on overseas tours. However, the possibility of his Test debut in the upcoming series against England may brighten if he performs in the ‘A’ tour games (against England Lions) preceding the five-Test series.
Easwaran had been in excellent form in the last domestic season with big hundreds in the Duleep Trophy and Irani Cup, and following them up with an unbeaten 127 in the Ranji Trophy opener against Uttar Pradesh. But in the ‘A’ tour matches Down Under last October-November, he aggregated only 36 in four innings.
Sudharsan, on the other hand, had managed to score a ton (103) on that ‘A’ tour, where he batted at No.3. But his proficiency in playing proper cricketing shots, besides his current form, may help him get promoted as an opener.
Going back to Easwaran, this is his best chance for an India debut, especially as some in the selection committee are quite keen on including him in the main squad. Besides, the team management usually prefers a right-left combination at the top.
All that the 29-year-old Bengal batsman needs to do is play some solid knocks in the two matches for India A in England.
“Performing in the ‘A’ matches should be the criterion for selection,” former national selector Devang Gandhi emphasised. “When it comes to the opening combination, I think the focus should be on the batsman who has fared well for India ‘A’ instead of looking at whether he’s a right-hander or a left-hander.
“You need to look at who’s amongst the runs. That person should be paired up with Jaiswal,” Devang explained.
There’s also a chance of Shubman Gill going back to the top, with Sudharsan at No. 3. Gill has been batting at No. 3 in Tests the last couple of years, but opening isn’t anything new to him as he had begun his Test career as an opener.
Gill has opened in England on a few occasions. But he tallies only 88 runs from six innings at an average of 14.66, with 28 his highest score. The moving ball, particularly the one tailing in, tends to create problems for Gill.
In a Virat Kohli-less middle order, Gill perhaps will be of better use at No. 3.