Australia vs India 2018/19: Why Ravichandran Ashwin should open the innings for India
After India bowled out Australia on a score of 326 on day 2 of the ongoing Perth Test, all eyes were on the Indian openers. Although the conditions were not in favour of them, they were expected to hang out a bit in the middle and see off the new ball. But both the openers got out within 6 overs and left India reeling at a score of 8 for 2.
Murali Vijay got out bowled by Mitchell Starc at a duck after facing 12 deliveries. He had no clue about the inswinger that rocked his stumps. KL Rahul faced 17 deliveries and managed just 2 runs before being bowled by Hazlewood. Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara were out there facing the new ball, which was the job of the openers.
In the second innings, things got even worse as KL Rahul lasted only 4 deliveries before getting cleaned up by Mitchell Starc at 0. Murali Vijay hanged around this time for 67 deliveries and eventually got out to Nathan Lyon at a score of 20. In the chase of 287 runs, it was the opener's job to provide India with a solid start but they disappointed again.
This has been pretty much the story of the openers in this overseas season of India. They have failed to give India a strong start and set the platform for the likes of Pujara, Kohli and Rahane.
India's highest opening stand in the overseas this year has been of 63 runs which came in the last Test match that India won at Adelaide. In Trent Bridge, England, Indian openers had stitched together a partnership of 60 runs in both the innings and eventually went on to win the match.
In this period, India has tried as many as 5 opening combinations and none turned out to be consistently successful. So now it might just be the time to try something out of the box and hence asking Ravichandran Ashwin to open the innings will be a gamble worth playing.
The Vijay-Rahul combo has clearly failed so there is no point trying them out again. Since Prithvi Shaw is ruled out of the series now, Mayank Agarwal looks all set to receive his maiden Test cap in the next match. Mayank was there in the squad for the West Indies series but surprisingly he wasn't tried out in the series which was played at home.
As Mayank Agarwal will be new to the scene, so someone experienced enough like Ashwin should be given the job to open the innings with him. Ashwin, as we all know, has the abilities of a batsman. He has scored some pretty looking 20s and 30s in the last one-year, batting primarily at No. 7 or 8. He has a good backfoot technique which would come handy in the Australian conditions.
India has tried so many opening combinations this year and none proved to be successful in the overseas conditions. All the combinations tried were of genuine top order batsmen. So trying something new and different option in that position will make no big difference. The opening slot in the team is in such a situation that nothing worse can happen.
Making Ashwin open the innings will be a gamble. Even if he gets out early, it will not harm the team much as he is not a genuine top order batsman who is expected to score big. On the other hand, if he makes a quick fire 30 or 40 and sees off the new ball, it will make life easy for the middle order.
Another advantage of Ashwin batting at the top is that the team will have the luxury of playing an extra bowler or an extra batsman. India can afford to go with four seamers along with five genuine batsmen and a wicketkeeper-batsman if Ashwin opens the innings. In that case, India will enjoy the services of five genuine bowlers which would be very handy in tiring Australian conditions.