Dominica:Rohit Sharma, the captain of the Indian cricket team, provided a possible starting lineup for the first Test match against the West Indies on Tuesday, July 11. In a pre-game press conference, Rohit announced a significantly altered Indian top order as well as long-term fixes for the position.
After being humiliated by Australia by 209 runs in the ICC World Test Championship final last month, India has resumed playing Test cricket. While opener KL Rahul is out injured, veteran batter and usual No. 3 Cheteshwar Pujara gets pulled from the lineup.
Yashasvi Jaiswal and Ruturaj Gaikwad have been selected for their first-ever Test matches in their place, and the former is scheduled to start an innings in the first Test at Windsor Park in Roseau, Dominica, beginning on July 12.
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Shubman Gill, who started an innings in the WTC final and India's most recent three Test matches, would bat at No. 3 in Pujara's place, according to Rohit. The Indian captain continued by saying that Gill personally approached head coach Rahul Dravid to take up the vacant no. 3 position because he had experience batting there in domestic cricket.
"As far as batting order is concerned, Gill will bat at No.3 as he himself wants to play at that slot. He himself went up to Rahul bhai (coach Dravid) and requested that since he has played all his cricket at No.3 and 4, he feels he could contribute more for the team in that slot," Rohit said on the eve of the first Test in Dominica.
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Additionally, Rohit stated that Yashasvi will open an innings alongside him because India will use a left-right combination at the top. He emphasized that Yashasvi would have the opportunity to claim the position of a left-hander at the top that Indian management was seeking on a long-term basis.
"For us, it's a good thing that we will have a left-right combination at the top. Hopefully, this will be a long-term solution as we were desperate for a left-hander at the top. Hope he (Jaiswal) can make that spot his own," Rohit added.
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