Since he made his Test debut on the tour of Australia in 2018, Mayank Agarwal was India’s first-choice opener in Tests until the middle of the last series against Australia, where his vulnerabilities were exposed by Australian pacers.
When Rohit Sharma recovered from injury, Indian team management valued the then current form and dropped him from the side and persisted with the newcomer Shubman Gill, who had batted with confidence against the trio of Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood.
Gill jumped in the pecking order with every game in the series and more or less established his claim for an opener’s slot in the side after an explosive 91 in the second innings at the Gabba in the series decider.
However, just as Agarwal’s journey stuttered after reaching the point of becoming an established opener, Gill too suffered a similar fate in the home series against England. He struggled against the reverse swing of James Anderson and left arm spin of Jack Leach to leave India and himself vulnerable.
His failings in the Test series against England has reignited the debate on who among him and Agarwal should be Rohit Sharma’s partner at the top of the order against New Zealand in the World Test Championship final.
Former Indian batsman VVS Laxman had his say on the matter and backed Shubman Gill to open with Rohit Sharma in the WTC final to retain continuity in the team selection for an all-important clash.
On Star Sports’ Cricket Connected show, Laxman said that Gill should be persisted with for the ‘continuity’ in team selection and the ‘character’ he had shown in the Gabba Test against Australia to set up a series win for Australia.
However, he said that the team can’t overlook the contribution of Mayank Agarwal, who performed at his best in the home series against South Africa to keep the side ahead in the Test Championship points table.