KL Rahul, Murali Vijay and Shikhar Dhawan have been India's openers in the ongoing Test series against England. On such an important overseas Test tour, the success of the openers is pivotal. Unfortunately for India, the openers have failed to assert themselves and this has resulted in additional pressure on the middle-order.
Vijay, who is touted as one of India's best Test openers, could only muster 26 runs in 4 innings with an average of 6.50 in the first two Tests and was later dropped from the series. Shikhar Dhawan remains inconsistent and keeps falling after decent starts.
In the current series, the left-handed opener has managed 158 runs in 6 innings at an average of 31.60. Meanwhile, KL Rahul has been rather poor and has only managed 113 runs in 8 innings at a paltry average of 14.12. None of the Indian openers have scored a fifty in the series as yet.
These are worrying signs and must have surely given a headache to the Indian team management. Murali Vijay's fall has been a massive disappointment as he was considered India's best Test opener in overseas conditions.
At 34 years of age and woefully out of form, it is unlikely that Vijay would be making a return to the Test squad anytime soon. Dhawan has never been a dependable opener, at least outside Asia. While he has got the 20s and the 30s, Dhawan hasn't been able to capitalize on his starts and that has hurt the team.
KL Rahul's poor run has been the most surprising. The talented Indian batsman has been in ripe form in limited overs cricket and has all the shots to play in the book. Having already shown his mettle in the longer format previously, one expected Rahul to do well in English conditions with his technique. However, the 26-year-old has looked unsettled and out of sorts in the middle and has been guilty of playing some loose strokes.
With the big tour to Australia coming up later this year, captain Virat Kohli would need to sort out his opening conundrum soon. Time and time again, the failings of the Indian openers in overseas Test matches have cost the team dearly.
Both Rahul and Dhawan have completed their batting in the ongoing 4th Test and have failed in the second innings as well. It is likely that Rahul would be persisted for some more time.
But if Shikhar Dhawan is given another opportunity and fails in the 5th Test as well, it would be time to look beyond him. Young Prithwi Shaw has already made the squad through a slew of impressive performances. There is also Mayank Agarwal who has been prolific in domestic cricket and deserves a chance.
A change at the top wouldn't perhaps be such a bad thing for the Indian Test team at present. A fresh pair of openers may well be the solution to revive India's opening dilemma.
