IND vs ENG | Hanuma Vihari or Cheteshwar Pujara should open for India, states Ajit Agarkar

06/30/2022

Ajit Agarkar stated that either Hanuma Vihari or Cheteshwar Pujara should open the innings if Rohit Sharma is unavailable for the Test match against England. The Indian captain had tested positive for coronavirus during the practice game against Leicestershire and has been in isolation since then.

Rohit Sharma testing positive for covid-19 days before India's Test match against England has raised a lot of problems for the team management. Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill were the first-choice openers for the Indian team against England. But, with uncertainty looming over Rohit Sharma's participation, India might have to look elsewhere. The team management added Mayank Agarwal as a backup for Rohit and it is not clear if he will be the batter that the team goes with if Rohit does not play.

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Former Indian fast bowler Ajit Agarkar shared his thoughts on the same and stated that either Cheteshwar Pujara or Hanuma Vihari should be opening in Rohit's absence. Agarkar feels that Mayank Agarwal might not be prepared as he has just arrived in England and it will be tough for him.

“I know KS Bharat got some runs in the warm-up game. The team management will probably have a look at how prepared Mayank Agarwal is after joining the team. I don’t know if he has enough time to prepare for this one-off Test. With Rohit in isolation, I believe experience will help in opening, whether it is Vihari or Pujara, who has been around for a long time,” Ajit Agarkar was quoted as saying on Sony Sports.

It is still not clear if Rohit Sharma will be a part of the playing XI for the fifth Test match of the series against England.