Rahul Dravid is a seasoned campaigner and has been to England four times as a player with the Indian team. in his 13 tests in England, Dravid scored 1376 runs with 6 centuries and 4 fifties with average of 68.8 during his career. This is his first tour of England as the coach of the Indian team. Dravid took over from Ravi Shastri towards the end of 2021. This is first assignment away from India as the coach of the team and he has a lot of headache already with Rohit Sharma likely to be sidelined due to COVID.
The story as it happened –
Rohit Sharma who was leading the side in the warm up match against Leicester, was tested positive for COVID-19. He did not bat during the 2nd innings for India in the game. News later emerged, Rohit had tested positive for a 2nd time recently. News outlets have said that the Indian captain is all but ruled out as Jasprit Bumrah is set to lead the side. Rahul Dravid had said that Rohit wasn’t yet ruled out as the medical team is in constant touch with the opener. Final call will be taken ahead of the game as per the Indian coach.
Two likely names in the fray to open alongside Shubman Gill –
Ahead of the warm game against Leicester, the Indian team management had confirmed Rohit and Gill will open for India. With Rohit facing a race to get fit, the fans are wondering who could open for India with the game starting on Friday. Mayank Agarwal is already in England and looks favorite, while Srikar Bharat did his chances no haram with a gutsy display in the warm game. Speaking about it during the pre game press meet, Rahul Dravid said “We'll make a decision. We will weigh a lot of factors. Obviously, Mayank is a regular opener. someone who opens regularly. We have other options too; Bharat himself has opened in a lot of games for Andhra and showed in that side game that he is batting superbly at the moment. He scored a 70 and a 40 (43) after opening the batting. We got him to open in that innings keeping a lot of things in mind”
Pujara possibly another contender?
Pujara has played 7 innings as an opener for the Indian team, the last time he opened was in 2021 against New Zealand. The game in Mumbai saw Pujara open the innings and score 47 runs in the 2nd innings of the game from 97 balls. Pujara has 395 runs with an average of 98 while opening the batting for India. Pujara has been in amazing form with the bat during the county season for Sussex with over 700 runs. Speaking about Pujara, coach Dravid said “Pujara has got a lot of great quality. He has opened for India as well in the past. So I would not want to give things away, but like I said, in our minds, we are clear on the direction we are going. We will see what happens to Rohit, but I am not at liberty to disclose the playing XI. But we have clarity,"