England vs India: Visitors likely to follow Sourav Ganguly's suggestion in the first Test

The three-day warm-up game between India and Essex in Chelmsford concluded on Friday as the visitors hinted at their combinations for the series opener. But the way their opener Shikhar Dhawan fared in the game must have left them worried. He looked completely out of sorts even as KL Rahul looked a class apart in both the innings. Virat Kohli might follow Sourav Ganguly’s suggestion and make him open alongside Murali Vijay.

Dhawan is no doubt the first-choice opener of Team India but his technique against the new ball was exposed by the second string Essex bowling attack. His struggles overseas in whites are well-known to everyone and India would be eyeing not to go into the game with any weaknesses. Rahul is breathing down his neck now with his impressive footwork the other day and there is a possibility of him playing at the Edgbaston.

Ganguly wanted Rahul to open

Sourav Ganguly, while speaking to India TV in June, had suggested Virat Kohli to include KL Rahul in the playing XI instead of Dhawan who is weak against the moving ball in away Tests. He had also spoken about his preferred batting order for the Test series and wanted Hardik Pandya to play at number 7 to lend balance to the side.

“KL Rahul and M Vijay should open in Test cricket. Pujara at 3, Kohli at 4, Rahane at 5, Saha at 6, Pandya at 7,” he had said. However, according to the current situation, Wriddhiman Saha is injured and Dinesh Karthik is set to replace him. Also, taking into consideration the form of Dhawan, Rahul is the most likely candidate to replace him.

With the captain and the coach emphasising on ‘current form’, the Indian batting line-up might look one dimensional as their top 6 batsmen will then be right-handed unless they take a shocking decision to hand over a debut to Rishabh Pant.

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