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‘I am not so sure…’: Sanjay Bangar names batter who could challenge Shubman Gill for India’s opener spot in World Cup
Former India batting coach Sanjay Bangar feels Shubman Gill has not yet confirmed his opener spot for Team India in the upcoming ODI World Cup, and feels there is another player who could steal that position.
With the 2023 ODI World Cup set to be held in India this year, many fans will be wondering about Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dravid's permutations and combinations for Team India. The opener slot has been a big question mark to the team management, especially with the team failing to get strong starts in last year's T20 World Cup and Asia Cup. The situation has worsened with middle order wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant falling victim to a car crash, which could see him miss out on the ICC showpiece event.
Rohit and Dravid have already experimented with KL Rahul batting at Pant's no. 5 role, which has paid dividends to a certain extent. Meanwhile, Shubman Gill has been in blistering form as opener and hammered a double hundred vs New Zealand in the first ODI of their ongoing three-match series. He also smashed a ton during the three-match ODI series vs Sri Lanka, which India won 3-0.
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Due to his performances, he has been heralded by many fans and experts as having confirmed his spot as India's opener for the 50-over showpiece event. Speaking on Star Sports, former India batting coach Sanjay Bangar feels that the young opener hasn't yet confirmed his spot as even Ishan Kishan put in similar displays as an opener.
"I am not so sure as yet because obviously there is one batter (Ishan Kishan) who is a left-hander who has also done that feat not too long ago. Again very similar in the age group category, he is 24 and Shubman is 23," Bangar said.
"A great thing for Indian cricket because what it does actually is that it sort of narrows down your choices to maybe possibly now that out of those three, two will certainly open for the Indian team in the 50-over World Cup", he further added.
India won the first ODI by 12 runs on Wednesday. Gill's knock of 208 runs off 149 balls helped India post 349 for eight in 50 overs. The opener also clobbered 19 fours and nine sixes. Meanwhile, Daryl Mitchell and Henry Shipley took two wickets each for the hosts. Meanwhile, the visitors were bowled out for 337 in 49.2 overs, despite a knock of 140 runs off 78 balls by Michael Bracewell. Mohammed Siraj was in hot form for India and took four wickets in 10 overs.
