‘Push him up the order’: No Rahul or Easwaran, Shastri throws new name as opener

Will India captain Rohit Sharma will be available for the 1st Test against Australia in Perth for the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy? The question is being asked by everyone. If Rohit is not able to make it in time, then it would be Jasprit Bumrah who would lead the side in his place. However, the question still remains, who opens in place of Rohit? Will it be KL Rahul or Abhimanyu Easwaran? Former Team India coach Ravi Shastri believes it would be wise to make Shubman Gill open the batting, if Rohit is not available for the Perth Test.
Shastri also noted how Abhimanyu Easwaran has not done that well against Australia A while playing for India A recently. The former Team India coach also had some words of wisdom for head coach Gautam Gambhir, asking him to look around for clues during nets.
“That’s a tough one and selectors have a choice. You can push Shubman (Gill) back up the order and he has opened in the past in Australia. Otherwise, you’ll have to then make an alternative. Easwaran hasn’t done that well (for India A in Australia). But it’s how he’s batting in the nets, how Rahul is batting in the nets. But that Shubman Gill option is also there,” Shastri told ICC Review.
“I used to always watch footwork as a coach. Sometimes runs are not important, but if a player is moving well, and if the feet are moving nicely, and you try and understand his game and you realize if he has the game for those conditions, if he has the right kind of shots for those kinds of pitches. These are the things you’ve got to look at when you start picking a side overseas,” he added.
If you remember, Virat Kohli and Ravi Shastri’s tenure as captain and coach is remembered by fans for too many changes. There was rarely a instance where the duo kept the same playing XI while playing overseas. Hence, it is no surprise, that Shastri is a strong advocator of ‘horses for courses’.

“It’s horses for courses in many ways. Most of the team will pick themselves, but there’ll be one or two cases where you might have to just go and dig deep and go with gut feeling,” said Shastri.
“I would be watching them like a hawk in the nets, the batters and the bowlers, because for me as a bowler, rhythm is important. And as a batter, again, tempo and rhythm is important,” he added.
While speaking to ICC, Ravi Shastri also said that he sees only one spinner between Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, playing the Perth Test. He believes that it would be Jadeja who would play the Perth Test instead of Ashwin.
“I would go with one spinner. I was in Perth last year when Pakistan played Australia. And in those conditions, to have two spinners is a luxury. You need pace because that track has pace and bounce. And you need the bowlers to exploit it and keep the pressure on the batsman. Because even if you’re talking of spin, you use them sporadically. It was always a tough choice, even when I was the coach,” said Shastri.
“For which one to pick now, Ashwin or Jadeja. So then again, it’s current form over there. Jadeja brings a lot to the table with his fielding as well as batting. So he would get the edge more often than not overseas. But it’s again how they see it and what the form looks like in the nets,” he added.
The Border-Gavaskar Trophy is slated to begin on November 22 in Perth. The other four Tests will be played in Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney.