'He'll bounce back': Former selector picks India's openers for the WTC final

The Indian team is spoilt for choices like never before. There are four deserving openers – Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Mayank Agarwal, KL Rahil to choose from in the WTC final against New Zealand. Six supremely talented seamers in Jasprit Bumrah, Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav, and Shardul Thakur are sure to give captain Virat Kohli a headache while spinners Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja too have a strong case of playing together.

The biggest question perhaps among these will be the choice of openers. Will India carry on with Rohit-Shubman or is there a case for Mayank’s return? Former India off-spinner Sarandeep Singh, who was a part of the selection committee responsible for India’s strong bench strength, put his weight behind the incumbents.

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Sarandeep said it will be an important series for young opener Shubman Gill, who could not replicate his success in Australia in the home series against England.

"Shubman is a class act. I am confident he would do well and most probably start with the WTC final with Rohit. He did not have the best of times against England at home, I hope he finds a way to bounce back in their own backyard,” the former off-spinner told PTI.

Mayank is certain to keep the Indian openers on their toes in the England tour. Sarandeep, however, said there more options waiting for India as far as opening the batting is concerned. The former selector mentioned Prithvi Shaw and Devdutt Padikkal, who have been scoring heaps of runs in domestic cricket.

"There is tremendous competition for the opening slot with Mayank sitting out despite doing well in his short Test career so far. Then you have got the likes of Prithvi Shaw and Devdutt Padikkal waiting in the queue," said Sarandeep.

Talking about the fresh faces picked in the second-string squad for the Sri Lanka tour in July, Sarandeep said it was surprising to see Shivam Dube not making the cut as a backup for Hardik Pandya.

"What happens in case Hardik is not able to bowl? You needed back up in Dube or Vijay Shankar. You have picked six spinners and all of them won't get to play so it made sense to add another fast-bowling all-rounder," he added.