3 high-profile openers who should bat at No. 3 in IPL 2023
There has been a lot of talk regarding the Indian Premier League (IPL) and the effect it has on players who turn out for Team India.
One of the often-discussed points is the fact that several Indian internationals perform different roles for country and franchise, leading to a lack of specialists in certain areas. For example, the likes of Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja bat higher up in the IPL than they do for India, leaving the Men in Blue without a reliable finisher.
The top-order spots face a similar problem and it might be ideal for a few big names to switch up their roles slightly during the upcoming season, for the good of both their IPL franchise and their national team. Here are three high-profile openers who should bat at No. 3 in IPL 2023.
#3 Rahul Tripathi
Rahul Tripathi recently made his debut for Team India and played two games, batting at No. 3 in both. The same might be the ideal position for him during IPL 2023, when he will play for the Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Abhishek Sharma had a breakout season as an opener in the previous campaign, scoring 426 runs despite Kane Williamson's struggles at the other end. Mayank Agarwal has been signed for a sizeable amount at the IPL 2023 auction, and the pitfalls of playing him lower down the order were witnessed last year.
Abhishek and Mayank might be slightly vulnerable against swing and seam since both are primarily spin-hitters, but splitting up the pairing doesn't make much sense. So although Tripathi is a powerplay intent machine who is at his best while opening the batting, it might be in SRH's best interests to keep him one position lower.
#2 KL Rahul
This might be controversial, since KL Rahul is one of the best T20 openers in the world when on song. Unfortunately, though, he isn't on song very often, especially in high-profile matches.
Rahul is a fairly complete T20 batter, but his mentality at the start of the innings hasn't been positive very often. The Lucknow Super Giants are bound to open with Quinton de Kock, and the southpaw needs a right-hander alongside him to take on the off-spin match-ups he's bound to encounter. The LSG skipper, who likes to get his eye in before going big, doesn't fit the profile.
Deepak Hooda is a spin destroyer and has opened the batting for Team India in T20I cricket. Marcus Stoinis is a successful Big Bash League opener, while other domestic options might be more suited to opening the batting than taking on a challenging middle-order role.
Rahul has excelled at No. 5 in ODIs, and there's no reason why he can't be a stable No. 3 in IPL 2023. He can come in and steady the ship if there's an early wicket, since the balls he usually eats up in the powerplay will continue to hurt LSG.
#1 Ruturaj Gaikwad
Ruturaj Gaikwad was one of the biggest disappointments of IPL 2022 as he reeled off a series of failures before somewhat coming into his own towards the end of the tournament.
The opener's technique was often found wanting against the pacers as he struggled to adapt to wickets that were more placid than the ones he encountered in his Orange Cap-winning season in the UAE. His approach in the powerplay, which saw him consume a lot of balls before trying to get a move on, was also detrimental to the Chennai Super Kings.
Gaikwad is an excellent player of spin, so a move to No. 3 could get the most out of his strengths. CSK have plenty of options to open the batting - Devon Conway, Moeen Ali, Ambati Rayudu and Ben Stokes are all capable of stepping up to the plate.
This one's unlikely to happen, but there's a real case to be made for CSK to adopt this strategy, especially if they decide to open with Conway. The Conway-Gaikwad partnership is excellent against spin but poor against swing and seam, and splitting it up might work wonders for the Men in Yellow.