Yuvraj Singh hints at India's possible openers for WTC final, gives special advise to bat in English conditions
Yuvraj Singh shared a special piece for advise for India openers Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill on how to tackle the moving ball in English conditions for the WTC final.
At a time when there is speculation about India’s opening combination for the World Test Championship final against New Zealand, former India all-rounder Yuvraj Singh hinted he would perhaps go with Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill.
India have stuck with Rohit and Gill for the last six Test matches despite there being tough competition from Mayank Agarwal. Gill and Rohit opened together for the first time in Australia when Mayank and Prithvi Shaw did not provide the goods in the early part of the series and Yuvraj believes chances are high that India might stick with the same combination even in the WTC final in Southampton, starting on June 18.
“Rohit Sharma is very experienced now in Test matches. He has almost 7 hundreds as an opener. But both Rohit and Shubman Gill have not opened in England ever,” Yuvraj told Sports Tak.
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The player of the tournament of the 2011 World Cup, said both Rohit and Gill need to be wary about the challenges they will face against a moving Dukes ball in England.
“They know the challenge, the Dukes Ball swings early. They have to get used to the conditions quickly,” he added.
Yuvraj said it is important for the Indian openers to take it one session at a time.
“In England, it's important to take it one session at a time. In the morning, the ball swings and seams, in the afternoon you can score runs, after Tea, it swings again. As a batsman, if you can adapt to these things, you can be successful,” the former left-hander said.
Just like many former cricketers, including India head coach Ravi Shastri, Yuvraj too batted for a best of three finals to decide the winner of WTC.
“I feel in a situation like this, there should be a best of 3 Tests, because if you lose the first one then you can come back in the next two. India will have a slight disadvantage because New Zealand are already playing Test cricket in England,” he said.