Australia vs India: Ravi Shastri terms openers' failure as a 'big concern'

After a decent amount of break, Australia and India are hitting the straps for the most important Test of the four-match series. The Boxing Day Test will decide the fate of the series even as the visitors are troubled with injury concerns. While Ravi Ashwin is yet to prove his fitness and Ravindra Jadeja is also carrying a niggle, the openers KL Rahul and Mural Vijay haven’t inspired any confidence to be retained. Even the head coach Ravi Shastri has termed their failure as a big concern for the team.

Prithvi Shaw injured his ankle during the warm-up game which meant India’s two low on confidence batsmen had to open in the first two Test. The youngster was expected to get fit for the remainder of the series but didn’t progress according to the expectations and was ruled out of the series eventually. Mayank Agarwal replaced him in the squad but looks unlikely to get a chance in Melbourne.

To make things worse, Rahul and Vijay have stitched only a solitary half-century partnership in the four innings so far and neither of them has looked confident.

They’ve got the experience

Ravi Shastri, while speaking to the reporters on Sunday, stressed the fact that both the players are experienced enough to know what is expected from them. He also felt that the top order has to take the responsibility to score the runs after getting a good exposure in the last few years.

“It’s a big concern. It’s obvious and that responsibility and accountability has to be taken by the top order. They’ve got the experience, they’ve got the exposure over these last few years to get out there and deliver. It’s about how strong you are in the mind,” he said.

With the third game set to commence on December 26, India have close to three days in their hands to get their combination right.

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