KL Rahul, Murali Vijay Should Open In Tests - Sourav Ganguly

The former India skipper, Sourav Ganguly has opined India should open with KL Rahul and Murali Vijay in the upcoming Test series against England.

Barring a few exceptions, India have mainly opened with Murali Vijay and Shikhar Dhawan in recent years. Rahul had also opened but primarily as an injury replacement or sometimes when either of the openers lost their form.

However, Ganguly feels India should pin their hopes on Rahul and the ever-reliable Murali Vijay in the testing conditions of England.

The recent happenings perhaps inspire Ganguly’s assessment. Rahul has been in brilliant form since this year’s IPL. Playing for Kings XI Punjab, the highly-rated batsman slammed a staggering 659 runs in 13 games including a 14-ball fifty. He then got a chance in the one-off Test against Afghanistan where he scored 54.

Rahul also proved his worth in the second T20I against Ireland earlier this week, slamming 70 off 36 balls.

But while Rahul’s form is good, Dhawan has also been impressive. He scored 497 runs in this year’s IPL before scoring a swift century against Afghanistan.

In the first T20I against Ireland, he blasted 74. But perhaps his poor overseas record in Tests has convinced Ganguly that India should replace him with Rahul.

The legendary skipper also batted for the inclusion of Kuldeep Yadav in the playing eleven.

In fact, he said India should drop the experienced Ravichandran Ashwin to make room for Kuldeep.

“KL Rahul and M Vijay should open in Test cricket. Pujara at 3, Kohli at 4, Rahane at 5, Saha at 6, Pandya at 7. Pandya is the fulcrum of this side, so his game has to be solid. Bumrah, Bhuvi, Umesh, Pandya, Ashwin. I would start with Kuldeep over Ashwin in the first Test. He has the ability to create doubts in the minds of batsmen,” he told IndiaTV.

India will play three T20Is, three ODIs and five Test matches in a two-month-long series, starting July 3.