Indian team’s star batsman
IND vs AUS: Team India has won, the Border-Gavaskar trophy will go to Gavaskar’s country… It has been almost four years since I heard these lines. Team India last toured Australia in the year 2020-21. Where they defeated Australia 2-1 in the series and Team India won the Border-Gavaskar Trophy title. This was the second time that the Indian team had gone to Australia and defeated the Kangaroo team in a Test series. This time too, fans are expecting similar charisma from Team India. Although this time Team India looks very weak, but despite being a weak team in Australia, Team India had performed brilliantly last time.
The biggest problem for Team India on the Australia tour will be their batting. Especially the continuous flop of the opening batsmen. Recently, Team India had to face a crushing defeat in the Test series played against New Zealand. The poor performance of the opening batsmen has been a major reason behind this. This time on the Australia tour, the Indian team does not have any opening batsman who can be completely trusted. There is definitely some shortcoming visible in every opening batsman. This has become the biggest tension for Team India. Actually, the responsibility of giving a good start is on the opening batsmen. In such a situation, it is very important to do good to them.
India has 5 openers
Team India has five opening batsmen on the Australia tour. Who can open for Team India. In this, Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal will be the main openers of the Indian team. Apart from this, Abhimanyu Easwaran has been included in the team as a backup opener. KL Rahul and Shubman Gill are also included in the team. Who has opened for Team India on many occasions. In such a situation, there are a total of five openers whom Team India can use. However, all the batsmen are facing some problem or the other. Talking about Rohit Sharma, he may miss the first match of this series. Apart from this, Rohit Sharma is not in any special form. Yashasvi Jaiswal has not played a single international match in Australia yet.
Talking about the three other openers, KL Rahul has been playing the role of floater in Team India. He has also opened in Australia, but he last opened for Team India in a Test match in February 2023. Shubman Gill’s figures as an opener in Australia are quite amazing. He has scored 289 runs in 6 innings of three matches in Australia at an average of 51.80. During this period his highest score has been 91 runs. Due to his brilliant batting, Team India won the Gabba Test against Australia in the year 2021. Gill, however, last opened for India in Tests in June 2023. In such a situation, he can be seen playing only at number three in Australia. Apart from this, Team India has also included Abhimanyu Easwaran in the squad. Who has not even debuted for Team India yet. In such a situation, the entire batch of opening batsmen is under question.
Opening batsmen visiting Australia for test series
Performance of current Indian players as openers in Australia
Danger of being like 1999
Team India also toured Australia in the year 1999-00. During this period, India played three test matches against Australia. Where the biggest problem for the Indian team was their opening batsmen. The Indian team tried four openers during the three matches of this series and all of them failed completely. The names of MSK Prasad, VVS Laxman, Sadagoppan Ramesh and Devang Gandhi were included in the list of openers. These four batsmen performed very disappointingly while opening. In this series, India did not have any opening batsman who could be completely trusted. Due to which Team India lost this series 3-0. Something similar is happening this time too. Where the Indian team will enter this series without any solid opener.
11 opening batsmen played in Australia in the 21st century
India has toured Australia for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 06 times in the 21st century. Where a total of 11 opening batsmen played for India. Apart from Virender Sehwag, Murali Vijay and Shubman Gill, none of these openers have any special statistics. The names of 11 openers include Aakash Chopra, Virender Sehwag, Wasim Jaffer, Gautam Gambhir, Murali Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, Shubman Gill, Prithvi Shaw and Rohit Sharma.
Opening batsmen who toured Australia in the 21st century and their performances
Sehwag has been India’s best opener
Team India’s former star batsman Virender Sehwag has performed brilliantly as an opening batsman in Australia. While opening, he has troubled the Australian bowlers a lot. Sehwag played for the Indian team from 2003 to 2012 and opened the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia. Where he scored 948 runs in 20 innings of 10 matches at an average of 47.40. During this period his highest score was 195 runs. Sehwag has also scored 4 half-centuries and two centuries in Australia. His statistics have been quite amazing. Apart from Sehwag, Sunil Gavaskar’s figures are also amazing. Gavaskar opened for Team India in 11 Test matches in Australia from 1977 to 1986. Where he scored 920 runs in 19 innings at an average of 51.11. His highest score was 172 runs. He has also scored 5 centuries while opening Australia. Gavaskar’s statistics are a testament to why the India vs Australia Test series is named after him.
India’s best opener in Australia
The openers had failed on the last two tours also
Team India’s opening batsmen had failed against Australia the last two times also. Leaving aside Shubman Gill’s statistics for a moment, no other opening batsman had performed particularly well in the years 2018-19 and 2020-21. Nevertheless, Team India defeated Australia 2-1 both times in the Test series. This time too, if the openers fail, the responsibility of victory will be on other top order batsmen and middle order batsmen. During the year 2020-21, Cheteshwar Pujara and Rishabh Pant performed this responsibility very well. This time Pujara is not a part of Team India, but Pant is ready to rock against Australia.
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