KL Rahul or Rohit Sharma? Ravi Shastri's frank opinion on opening options for India in the second test against Australia

Former cricketer Ravi Shastri has backed KL Rahul to continue opening for India in the second Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy as captain Rohit Sharma is short of playing time in Australia. India head coach Gautam Gambhir has found himself in a dilemma that needs to be addressed before the day-night Test begins in Adelaide on Friday. The early puzzle began when KL Rahul forced the Australian bowlers to work hard with his swag on the challenging Perth Test strip.

Shastri was clear in his views when he suggested that India should continue to back Rahul in the opening slot. For Shastri personally, adopting the same setup would be the way forward.

“I think he (Rahul) should keep opening because Rohit hasn't had much time since coming here (Australia),” Shastri said in the ICC review.

He said, “Very soon he had to play the Prime Minister's XI match. But I would say go ahead with the same setup. He (Rohit) can bat at number five or six.”

Apart from Rohit, India will get a boost from the return of Shubman Gill, who could not play in the Perth Test due to a hand injury. He wasted no time in doing his job and scored fifty in the Prime Minister's XI match.

“The fact that Shubman Gill is also fit makes it a very strong Indian team. I would say in the last 10-15 years, with all the teams that have come to Australia, you will feel that this is one of the experiences. Because of the strongest batting line-up. You have Shubman fit and batting at number three, he comes back and plays in place of (Devdutt) Padikkal and (Dhruv) Jurel.”

Australia team (for the second Test): Pat Cummins (captain), Scott Boland, Alex Carey (wicketkeeper), Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitch Marsh, Nathan McSweeney, Steve Smith. . Mitchell Starc, Beau Webster

India Team: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Devdutt Padikkal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant, Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Siraj. , Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar.