Australia vs India 2018-19: 3 non-regular openers who can take Prithvi Shaw's spot at Adelaide
Prithvi Shaw injured his left-ankle while fielding during the third day of the practice match against Cricket Australia XI at Sydney Cricket Ground on Friday. As a consequence, he has been ruled out of the first Test at Adelaide.
The Test series is scheduled to begin at the Adelaide Oval on the 6th of December. With Shaw injured, India must be contemplating various opening batting options now. Ideally, Murali Vijay should replace Prithvi Shaw and open the batting alongside KL Rahul.
However, skipper Virat Kohli and the team management may consider other options too. Here are three non-regular openers who can be asked to replace Shaw as one of the openers for the first Test at Adelaide.
#3 Parthiv Patel
Parthiv Patel has opened for India in six innings from his 38 innings at the Test level. He has been impressive while opening the batting and has scored 265 runs at an average of 53. His opening average is much better than his career average which stands at 31.13. The left-hander is consistent has also scored three fifties at the top of the order.
If Parthiv can open, India can bring in both Rohit Sharma and Hanuma Vihari in the middle order. In such case, Pant is likely to miss out. This move will bring solidity to the lower middle-order.
Parthiv is the kind of player who can provide a brisk start to the Indian batting unit. While opening the batting, he scored runs at a strike-rate of 64.48. With Shaw injured and Rahul struggling for form, the southpaw is not a bad option at the top of the order.