Rohit Sharma To Open In South Africa Tests: Report

Team India will reportedly have a new opening pair in the upcoming Test series against South Africa. With Prithvi Shaw suspended for the doping violation, KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal opened the innings in the Caribbeans. And in all the four innings, the two failed to give India a good start.

While Agarwal, who is very new to international circuit did just fine, Rahul continued to disappoint. The highly-rated opener, who is being persisted with despite several failures, managed to score only two fifty-plus knocks last year. While one was a fifty against Afghanistan at home, the other was his 149-run knock against England at the Oval when India had already lost the series.

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Before the tour of West Indies, Rahul had 12 single-digit scores in his last 24 Test innings. In fact, he scored 17 scores of  less than 20  in his last 24 innings. Consequently, he managed to score just 484 runs since November 2017 at an average of 21.59. His performance in West Indies did not improve either.

Rahul failed to get going in all the four innings he batted in. He got the starts in the first Test, scoring 44 and 38 but failed to convert them. His form further worsened in the second Test as he managed to score only 13 and 6. And according to Mumbai Mirror, Rahul is now all set to face the axe.

Rahul will reportedly make way for Rohit Sharma at the top of the order in the series against South Africa. With Hanuma Vihari and Ajinkya Rahane settling down well in the middle-order, Rohit is unlikely to get a chance there. Thus the team-management is keen to try him at the top of the order. Rohit recently sat out both the games in West Indies.

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Rohit is one of the best if not the best opener in ODIs and T20Is right now and if he manages to replicate that form in Tests too, it will be a big relief for India. The team has not really managed to find a reliable opening pair in the last few years and will have high hopes from its senior player.