Vijay & Dhawan Will Open Innings in South Africa - Ravi Shastri

Ravi Shastri, team India Head Coach, has revealed it will be Murali Vijay and Shikhar Dhawan who will be opening the innings for India on the South Africa tour. The plan of Shastri is not at all a surprise, despite the fact that KL Rahul has done in previous games,

“You look at experience, you look at variety so that’s what Shikhar brings in, a left hand, right-hand combination so he is a must. He has got lots of runs. Vijay the most experienced and a very good record overseas and he brings solidity. Young Rahul is immensely talented and he will get his opportunity at some stage. He might have to wait for a while but he will get his opportunity think he was the most improved player in the last 18 months. it’s just unfortunate that he didn’t convert those 60s into 150s but he will learn,” he told Cricketnext.com

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First talking of Vijay, he has done well in his comeback matches and has a good record on foreign soil as well, so he is one of the fixed openers for the series. One of the problems which the Indian team will face in South Africa will be to see off the new ball, and Vijay’s patience will come into play there.

On the other hand, to balance it, Shikhar Dhawan is the best option for the Indian team right at the start to keep the flow of runs. KL Rahul also keeps the pace up, but he is yet to gain the confidence and play big innings.

In the Chennai Test against England, the way he got dismissed on 199, it was a surprising one, which also revealed his biggest weakness – lack of patience.

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Though he can always come in to open the innings in case any of the openers fail to deliver. Earlier as well, Dhawan got dropped from the playing XI on tour of Australia and England previously due to poor form, and KL Rahul will be the backup option in case this happens again.

Every match which India will play in South Africa will put up a stern test in front of each, and every player and changes are expected right in each match. It’s already a fact that captain Kohli does not carry the same side in two consecutive games, which has been evident right from the day he has taken up the Test captaincy.

The India tour of South Africa starts on January 5.

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