With Rohit Sharma now down with Covid-19, Team India will scramble for an extra opener for the one-off Test against England at Edgbaston. However, an additional opener is not available on the touring side. With the captain missing, the responsibility is likely to fall on either Cheteshwar Pujara or KS Bharat. The latter has got some runs in the only warm-up match against Leicestershire and is the front-runner to replace Rohit.
The 15-man squad does not have an additional opener and had only two specialist openers in the form of Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill. KL Rahul’s name was definitely there in this, but due to injury, he had to retreat.
One of the explosive openers of his time, Sehwag said it was a huge mistake by the selectors, who should have ensured that there were extra batsmen for the role. He said that if the teams after Kovid have traveled with so many players, then someone must have brought an extra opener.
“I think there is a mistake on the part of the selectors that we did not take an extra opener as a backup. Because everyone thought Rohit was fit, Shubman Gill was fit. No one expected this covid factor. One or two extra players always go and you have 20-22 extra players in Covid days. If you have a 22-man squad and you don’t have an extra opener, it’s a big mistake on your part,” he told Sony’s pre match show ‘Extra Innings’ for India vs Ireland.
“Someone will be asked to open. Maybe Pujara, maybe KS Bharat. Now if Bharat opens up and he fails, will he get another chance? Pujara had a great comeback, if he doesn’t score, will he play again?’
“If you make someone a temporary opener, you have to give him confidence. ‘Well, you put yourself above the team, we’ll support you in the future.'”
On Sunday morning, news broke that Rohit Sharma had tested positive for Covid-19. Although the India captain remains aloof and there is no guarantee that he will be out, it is no one’s guess who will get promotion in his absence.
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