IND vs ENG | Suryakumar Yadav should replace Dhawan; Kohli should open with Rahul, says Gautam Gambhir

After announcing a day before the first T20I that Shikhar Dhawan was in the squad as a reserve opener, Indian skipper Virat Kohli sprung a surprise at the toss by naming the 35-year-old opener in the starting XI, owing to Rohit Sharma being rested. However, the opportunity turned to be a forgettable one for Dhawan, who could only manage to score 4 runs off 12 balls before being cleaned up by a pacy Mark Wood. On the back of Shreyas Iyer top-scoring for India, the chances of any of the reserve players in the squad getting a look-in seems slim, but, previewing the 2nd T20I on ESPN Cricinfo, former Indian opener Gautam Gambhir threw a left-field idea.

“I  would like to see Virat Kohli open the batting. It’s going to be unfair on Shikhar Dhawan, after just one opportunity, and I think they would still go ahead with the same batting line-up, but I would still like to see Suryakumar Yadav instead of Dhawan and see Virat open the batting (Surya at No.3).”

“India were thin on the fast bowling front. Just too one-dimensional. I know both Axar and Sundar have done well, but India are batting too deep. You don’t need Washington batting at No.8. You probably would rather have someone like a Navdeep Saini. I know the English bowlers might cherish India playing a fast bowler, but then again, you’ve got to have pace in your bowling line-up. 

“India at the moment look very one-dimensional. They were spin heavy.. You’ve got Bhuvneshwar Kumar who bowls around 130, Shardul Thakur does not bowl express pace. So I would rather have someone like a Navdeep Saini - purely from a pace point of view - instead of Washington Sundar.”