There Are A Lot Of Players Pushing For The Role As Openers: Sanjay Manjrekar

According to former Indian cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar, Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma will open in the T20 World Cup innings together as reported by India today.

Dhawan has been in outstanding form in the 50-over format. He captained the Indian ODI team during the series against the West Indies.

Manjrekar stated on Sports Over The Top on Sports18 that, aside from Dhawan, Gill and Ruturaj Gaikwad will be challenging Rahul for the position at the top of the order.

Dhawan has been absent from the primary Indian T20I team for some time and has only played in T20Is when the primary team was unable to participate.

KL Rahul Might Have To Bat In The Middle Overs: Sanjay Manjrekar

“Shikhar Dhawan will open. Shubman Gill and Ruturaj Gaikwad are the other guys who will be pushing KL Rahul and you know the team management as options.

“So, it will be about somebody making a personal sacrifice from KL Rahul’s standpoint thinking from only his angle. We’ve seen over the years that when he opens the innings, he gets a big one when he bats down the order at 5 or 6 obviously he doesn’t get that opportunity.

“But then where do you back Shubman Gill? Shubman Gill can bat at number 3. I think Shubman Gill is also somebody that India can start looking as a batter down the order in Test cricket. So, all these things are being tackled and we’ve seen right through our coverage of Indian cricket. These are the talking points for us.

“Then there are so many options, so many permutations and combinations that have worked for India. And you know India have managed to win despite making all kinds of changes,” he said on Sports18.

“There’s Ruturaj Gaikwad, there’s Shubman Gill, there’s Shikhar Dhawan, there’s KL Rahul and wild cards such as Sanju Samson and Ishan Kishan opening the innings.

“So, take your pick but from KL Rahul’s standpoint because he wants to be one of the integral members of the T20 World Cup, batting at the top of the order gets the time to get a feel of matches.” Sanjay Manjrekar further added.

In the first ODI against Zimbabwe KL Rahul did not open.

Also Read: IND vs ZIM: Sanjay Manjrekar Thinks That KL Rahul Needs To Prove The Selectors That He Still Has His Batting Rhythm