Ricky Ponting drops a unique take on accommodating KL Rahul in the playing XI for final Test against AUS

India are set to lock horns with Australia in the fourth Test of the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy at Narendra Modi Stadium from March 9. After losing the third Test by a huge margin, Rohit Sharma and co. will be looking to make a comeback. They will try to win the game and book their spot at the finals of the Test Championship.

However, India will also want to finalize a great opening combination for the team as both Shubman Gill and KL Rahul have failed to capitalize on opportunities. Captain Rohit Sharma has also failed to convert quick starts. Meanwhile, former Australia Captain Ricky Ponting has suggested a way by which India can play both Rahul and Gill and take the best out of them.

Speaking on a cricket show, Ponting said that in the fourth Test, India should bring back KL Rahul and keep Shubman Gill as the opener. According to the former Australia captain, KL Rahul could move down the order because of his experience playing in England.

“With someone like KL Rahul having gone out of this side and Shubman Gill having come in, both these guys have played a bit of Test match cricket and you could potentially have both of those guys in the same team,” Ponting said.

“Maybe Shubman could start at the top and KL could potentially move down into the middle order because he’s played cricket in those (English) conditions before, albeit at the top of the order”, he further added.

“Conditions in India are so extreme”, Says Ricky Ponting

The 48-year-old Aussie World champion also highlighted the conditions that will be at the Oval during the Test Championship Final, later, this year. The match is set to be scheduled played between June 7 to June 11. Ponting said,

“The Oval can be a good place to bat as long as the sun is out, it’s probably as good a wicket as any in the UK. So I think that’s what it would come down to for India. It would just come down to assessing the conditions and then maybe forgetting about this last series that’s just been played.”

“The conditions that we’re seeing here (in India) are quite extreme. If it was Australia and India, they would both look at the conditions and pick the team that they think was best to win that one-off game”, he further added.