England v India 2018, 2nd Test: 3 Indian players suitable for the opening slot
A nail-biting Test match between England and India at Edgbaston has created a buzz around the cricket fraternity, going further into the series. Being England's 1000th Test match, they became the first international team to achieve this rare feat.
The Indian team were largely kept alive in the match by Kohli's gritty knock of 149 in the first innings (his first hundred in England). Unfortunately, they couldn't sustain the momentum gained from the spectacular knock due to top order failures and dropped slip catches.
Facing a target of 194, the burden was again on Kohli as other top order batsman failed to step-up against the rejuvenated England bowling attack. They failed to apply their skills and faltered against the likes of Broad and Stokes in the 2nd innings.
Options for opening slot
Any team which has won in England on previous tours happened to have a good opening pair, scoring plenty of runs. The opening batsmen have the huge responsibility of seeing through the new ball and help the middle-order batsmen to dominate the rest of the innings (No.3, 4, and 5).
Since Shikhar Dhawan failed to do so, India might consider the following options for a better opener in place of Shikhar.
#3: Lokesh Rahul
The stylish right-handed batsman was in tremendous form in the limited overs series against England. However, continuous chop and change in the opening slot has put him in a miserable state of mind, resulting in poor outcome in the 1st test.
Since his debut against the Aussies at Melbourne (2014), Rahul has played majority of his career as an opener, notching up 4 hundreds and 11 fifties with a high score of 199. Hence, the team management must decide to give Rahul an extended run at the opening slot to build his confidence back.