A Look At India's Opening Pairs And Their Performance In Past One Year

With an opening partnership of 317 in the first innings of Vizag Test against South Africa, Rohit Sharma and Mayank Agarwal gave a ray of hope to India. For more than a year, India have been struggling to find suitable openers in the longest format and with their partnership, Mayank and Rohit hit the right notes in their first attempt.

India’s failure to find suitable openers has seen as many as three players lose their place in the Test side and a total of nine pairs opening the innings in past one year. Rohit and Mayank, who did well in the first Test, have a long way to go before it can be said that India have finally solved their opening conundrum in the longest format.

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Let us have a look at India’s opening pairs in past one year and their performances (starting from the tour of England) –

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Shikhar Dhawan – Murali Vijay –

As has been the tradition, India travelled to England with three openers. Surprisingly, all three played in the first Test match in Birmingham as Virat Kohli dropped Cheteshwar Pujara from the playing XI. They did put up 50 runs on the board for the first wicket in the first innings but just managed 19 runs in the second innings that saw Dhawan make way for Pujara for the second Test.

The decision to drop Pujara was a big surprise and also invited criticism from all corners. The right-handed batsman had just managed 172 runs in six county matches before the series, which was the probable reason behind him not getting the first go.

KL Rahul – Murali Vijay –

The second Test at Lord’s Test was a nightmare for India as they lost the game by an innings and 159 runs. Vijay bagged a pair in the Test while Rahul managed 18 runs. The duo failed to add even a single run for the first wicket. Another failure on the tour saw Vijay make way for Dhawan for the third Test.

Shikhar Dhawan – KL Rahul –

After poor returns from Vijay, India dropped him for the third Test and later sent him home, calling up Prithvi Shaw for the last two Tests. Though the team management did not hand him debut as Dhawan was given an extended run.

He failed to capitalise on the opportunities provided and just managed 123 runs in the next three Tests. Rahul scored a 149 in the fourth innings of the fifth Test, that India lost by 118 runs. In the last three Tests, India’s score for the first wicket read: 60, 60, 37, 4, 6 and 1.

Prithvi Shaw – KL Rahul –

Indian selectors dropped Dhawan from the Test squad following his poor run in England. In his absence, Shaw made his Test debut and opened with KL Rahul. Rahul was dismissed on a duck in the 1st Test. Another failure in the first innings of the second Test followed but he made up for it by leading India to a 10-wicket victory by putting up 75 runs with Shaw.

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On a personal note, the series was fruitful for Shaw as scored a century right in his first Test in Rajkot. He scored 237 runs in the series to bag the Man of the Series award. Both the players also went to Australia as first-choice openers.

Murali Vijay – KL Rahul –

An injury to Shaw in the practice match saw him miss the Australia series. In his absence, Vijay made his way back into playing XI. The duo put up partnerships of 3, 63, 6 and 0 across four innings in first two Tests that saw the team management dropping both the openers for the third Test. Vijay is yet to play a Test since Australia tour.

Mayank Agarwal – Hanuma Vihari –

India gambled on debutant Mayank Agarwal and middle-order batsman Hanuma Vihari for the Boxing Day Test and it paid off as they resisted for 18.5 overs against the fiery pace attack of Australia, sharing 40 runs. In the second innings, they scored 28 runs in 13 overs for the first wicket. Mayank, meanwhile, scored 76 in his debut innngs and followed up with 42.

Mayank Agarwal – KL Rahul –

With Rohit Sharma returning home for the fourth Test, Rahul was brought back into playing XI. The comeback man just scored nine runs, in a partnership of 10 runs, and did not get a chance to bat again as rain washed out more than 150 overs.

Rahul was retained for the tour of West Indies, where he again opened the innings with Mayank. In the first Test, the opening pair shared 5 and 30 while in the second Test, they together put up 32 and nine runs.

Rahul scored 101 runs at 25.25 in the series and got dropped for the home series against South Africa.

Rohit Sharma – Mayank Agarwal –

Rohit was pipped by Hanuma Vihari for a place in the playing XI during the Wet Indies series that saw experts rooting for him to be promoted as an opener. After dropping Rahul from the Test squad, India chief selector MSK Prasad confirmed that Rohit will be promoted as an opener in Tests. It was for the first time in his career that Rahul was dropped from the Test team.

The duo of Rohit and Mayank did wonders in the Vizag Test as they shared 317 runs for the first wicket. Rohit scored 175 in the first innings while Mayak converted his maiden century into a double-century. In the second innings, though they just managed 21 runs for the first wicket.

Going ahead, this opening partnership will be given enough chances to prove its credentials and solve India’s opening conundrum.