Too many options for the opening slot has given Virat Kohli a 'headache'

It is widely acknowledged fact at the moment that the Indian Cricket Team has a heavy bench strength in all formats of the game with multiple candidates for a single position. And that became evident in the first of the three Tests against Sri Lanka at Galle. While both their regular openers Murali Vijay and KL Rahul were unavailable due to injuries their replacements in the ongoing tour, Shikhar Dhawan and Abhinav Mukund have also proved their mettle, which makes the opening slot in the Test team a four-way battle.

Vijay is not with the team because he injured his right wrist a few weeks ago, after which the BCCI advised him to undergo a surgery and thus he missed out the IPL. He has recovered since then but reported pain while playing a league match in Tamil Nadu to test his match fitness. KL Rahul, on the other hand, is with the team in the Island nation but didn’t play the opening Test, which India won by 304 runs, due to viral fever.

However, Dhawan and Mukund made the most of the opportunity. While Dhawan scored a splendid 190 in the first innings, Mukund scored a valuable 81 in the second. Now, Rahul is fit for the second Test and one among the two will have to sit out of the next game to make way for the Karnataka batter. Too many options for the opening slot is a headache for the Indian skipper. “Yes’ it’s a very tricky situation. We’ve got all four openers firing now. Shikhar was supposed to go to Melbourne, now he’s got a 190 in Galle. So, anything can happen in life.” skipper Virat Kohli told reporters.

Massive headache

“It’s a massive headache but I guess a good one. You know, eventually guys understand that only two can take the field and at most two or three openers make the squad. We’ll have to eventually take a call on who plays in the next Test and I’m sure the third guy will understand whatever the call is taken by the team,” Kohli said.