Former Indian Test opener Virender Sehwag has picked India’s top four batters for the England tour after Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli’s retirement. Sehwag said the one who would perform consistently against England while batting at number four, will become a certainty at the spot.
Earlier, Virat Kohli used to bat at the number four position and after his retirement, the Indian team will have their work cut out in filling the huge void. Sehwag has backed India’s new vice-captain Rishabh Pant to take the number four slot.
The former Indian opener wants Yashasvi Jaiswal and captain Shubman Gill to open the innings, whereas he urged the team’s think tank to back in-form Sai Sudharsan at one down.
“Who will bat at number four? Will it be KL Rahul? Will it be Sai Sudharsan? Will it be Rishabh Pant? The fight for the number four spot will start now. The one who bats there against England and does well will become certainty for that spot.”
“I would want Shubman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal to open the innings. Sai Sudharsan at three. Rishabh Pant at 4,” Sehwag said on Cricbuzz.
On the other hand, chief selector Ajit Agarkar revealed that number four spot would be decided by head coach Gautam Gambhir and newly appointed captain Shubman Gill.
“Shubman Gill and Gautam Gambhir might take a call on the number four in the batting order. I cannot give the batting order from here,” Agarkar said at the press conference on Saturday.
The opening Test match between India and England will be played at Leeds, Headingley, from June 20 onwards.
Full squad: Shubman Gill (c), Rishabh Pant (vc, wk), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Karun Nair, Nitish Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav
