The Indian management is facing a conundrum over the opening batting slots and with three options in Murali Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan, and KL Rahul present, there has to be a decision made pertaining to the issue.
However, if snippets from Ravi Shastri's interview is anything to go by, Rahul might well slip down in the batting order and take charge of the middle order.
'Our batting order will be flexible'
"He has been picked as the third opener. But our batting order will always be flexible. The third opener can play anywhere in the top four. We are a very, very flexible outfit. Be prepared for that. We will surprise you guys at times," Shastri said in an interview with ESPN.
There has to be a decision made considering the form KL Rahul has been in. At the same time, Cheteshwar Pujara has been struggling to get runs in the recent past, because of which there have been muted discussions about including Rahul at the number three slot.
However, the coach seems to trust Pujara and believes he can get the job done which makes Rahul drop down to the middle order if he does not walk out to face the new ball.
It has to be mentioned here that Shikhar Dhawan bagged a pair in the warm-up game against Essex while both Rahul and Vijay notched up half-centuries. It might well be a case of going with the current form which could see Dhawan warming the bench in the first Test, but as Shastri mentioned, the Indian team is willing to keep all its cards pretty close to the chest for now.
In the same match against Essex, Rahul batted at number six in the first innings and scored a breezy 58 and then followed it up with an unbeaten 36 in the second innings where he opened the batting.
The first Test begins on August 1 at Birmingham and which players make the playing XI will be an interesting watch.
