IND vs SL 2017: Virender Sehwag Weighs in on India's Opening Combination

Ahead of the three-Test series against Sri Lanka, India’s opening combination for the first Test was discussed fervently.

In the absence of Murali Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan was recalled during the series against Sri Lanka a few months ago, and the southpaw had fully capitalised on it, finishing the series as the highest run-scorer to bag the Man of the Series award.

However, given the team’s recent policy of preferring the regular players over the form of any replacement player, Murali Vijay has been backed by many to open the innings. It should be remembered that last year, Parthiv Patel had to make way for Wriddhiman Saha even after impressing with the bat after the latter recovered from an injury.

But while it seems the team will choose one between Vijay or Dhawan, former India opener Virender Sehwag has come up with a surprising view on the much-talked-about topic. The swashbuckling opener feels the team should give the nod to both Dhawan and Vijay to open the innings, thus dropping KL Rahul, who has scored eight half-centuries in his last eight Test innings. Sehwag feels Vijay should be preferred ahead of Rahul because of his better conversion rate.

“Murali Vijay has more hundreds than KL Rahul, and whenever he crosses the half-century mark, he converts it into a big hundred. If KL Rahul had scored a hundred or a double hundred in the seven consecutive fifties which he scored, then I would have definitely considered his name. I feel you give preference to the player who can score big runs in Test cricket and Vijay was not dropped from the squad, he was out due to his injury,” Sehwag told India TV.

“I think Vijay will be preferred over KL Rahul and Dhawan, who is in good form, will definitely play. In my opinion, a player who is scoring big runs should be preferred in Test cricket,” he added.

The cricketer-turned-commentator also insisted that India will make light work of Sri Lanka in the upcoming series.

“They (Sri Lanka) have recently beaten Pakistan in the Test series, and they will be confident playing here but the question here is will the three Test matches last for five days? Is the Sri Lankan team capable of fighting the Indian team for five days? I think India will definitely win the series but let’s wait and watch in how many days,” he said.

Also Read: (India vs Sri Lanka 1st Test: Angelo Mathews Will Bat At Number Four, Confirms Dinesh Chandimal)

(Ashish Nehra to Kick off His Commentary Career in the India vs Sri Lanka series)

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