Harbhajan Singh picks his opening combination for India against Australia in BGT 2023

Former India spinner Harbhajan Singh reckons that Shubman Gill should open with captain Rohit Sharma in the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia. KL Rahul’s position as the second opener is doubtful as he has been struggling for runs in recent times. Gill, on the other hand, has had a rapid rise in his form. India will host Pat Cummins-led Australia in the first Test at Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium at Nagpur on Thursday.

Sharing his thoughts on YouTube, Harbhajan explained why he came up with Gill instead of Rahul as Rohit’s opening partner ahead of the Test series. The former Indian cricketer said that the openers set the tone in any series as the opening partnership is the most important thing. “According to me, India’s openers in the Australia series should be Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill. In the form he is in, Gill is on another level. Even though KL Rahul is a top player, his stats (across all formats in 2022) are not favouring him at the moment. Whereas Gill is in the form of his life,” he said.

Gill will score plenty of runs for India: Harbhajan Singh

According to Harbhajan, India can only win the Test series against Australia if Shubman Gill opens with Rohit Sharma in the entire series. “After scoring so many runs, I think he deserves to be in the Indian playing XI not for just one game. I think India should stick with Shubman Gill throughout the series. If he plays in the form and confidence that he is in, Gill will score plenty of runs for India. So I hope he gets to play,” added the 42-year-old.

In 2023, Gill scored a double century against New Zealand and became the fifth Indian batter to do so in an ODI. He scored his maiden T20I century against New Zealand and became the fifth Indian to score centuries across all formats of international cricket. The 23-year-old who made his Test debut against Australia in 2020 has played 13 Tests for Rohit Sharma-led side. He has a record of 736 runs with an average of 32.0 in Test cricket.