Without any doubts on Indian captain Rohit Sharma’s participation for the first Test of the subsequent five-Test series against Australia, Indian men’s cricket team head coach Gautam Gambhir has said that in case the 37-year-old right-handed opening batter is unable to play the first Test in Perth because of personal reasons then Bengal batter Abhimanyu Easwaran or KL Rahul will be the openers for the Indian side.
Rahul, who scored his maiden Test century in Australia, has opened the innings for India in a few red-ball fixtures virsa Easwaran, who is yet to don the Test cap for India, is an opening batter by trade.
“There’s (Abhimanyu) Easwaran; there’s KL (Rahul). So we will take a call closer to the first Test match if Rohit is not available. There are quite a few options in the squad. So, once it gets closer to the first Test match, we will plan the best playing XI, which is going to do the job for us,” said Gambhir during India’s pre-departure press conference in Mumbai on Monday (November 11).
Easwaran and Rahul opened for India A in the second unofficial Test against Australia A, which was played at Melbourne Cricket Ground last week, but could not put up a significant score with the bat.
Gambhir was also taken through the possibility of Rohit feature out for the series opener against the Aussies at the Optus Stadium come November 22, to which he explained, “At the moment, there’s no confirmation. But we guys will let you know exactly what the situation would be. Hopefully, he is going to be available. But everything you will get to know only before the start of the series.”
At the same time, Gambhir confirmed during the media session that pace sensation Jasprit Bumrah will take over the reins of the Indian team in the first match of the series in the absence of captain Rohit Sharma for the first Test.
Bumrah, who currently sits third in the ICC Test bowlers’ rankings, captained India in a single Test match against England in July 2022. However, he could not help the team in securing an iconic victory against the Ben Stokes-led English side, in a match that took place at Edgbaston.