'He had 2 or 3 bad performances but overall his Test career is impressive': Former India keeper picks Gill's replacement
India are due to take on England in a five-match series and with Shubman Gill, who failed to make an impact in the summit clash, suffering an injury, Deep Dasgupta feels either Mayank Agarwal or KL Rahul should take the second opening spot.
Post the culmination of the World Test Championship (WTC) final between Virat Kohli's Team India and Kane Williamson-led New Zealand, which ended with the Black Caps winning the match by eight wickets, the topic of India's opening combination has picked up pace once again.
India are due to take on England in a five-match series and with Shubman Gill, who failed to make an impact in the summit clash, suffering an injury, Deep Dasgupta feels either Mayank Agarwal or KL Rahul should take the second opening spot.
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Speaking in a video uploaded on his YouTube channel, former India cricket Dasgupta feels Agarwal should get the nod ahead of Rahul purely because the latter hasn't been able to correct his defensive flaws of late. However, he did mention that Rahul would be more suited in the middle-order, given his attacking instincts which can help the team.
"There are two straightforward options - Mayank Agarwal and KL Rahul. My vote goes for Mayank Agarwal because, yes, he did have two or three bad performances but overall, I think his Test career has been really impressive - in India and especially overseas. For KL Rahul, see, he has opened or played in the top order throughout his life whether it's for Karnataka or India in red-ball or white-ball cricket," explained Dasgupta.
The cricketer-turned-commentator further added: "But the way he has been playing white-ball cricket, his technique has changed a bit, he's become more attacking. His attacking technique has improved but his defensive technique... he hasn't paid that much attention to it. That's why I feel that KL Rahul, as far as red-ball cricket is concerned, is a very good middle-order option."
Recently, Gill was reportedly ruled out of the first England Test due to an aggravated shin injury. Since he is expected to be out for eight weeks, Kohli and Co. will have to choose another partner for Rohit Sharma to open the innings for India.
