KL Rahul, who was India’s stand-in skipper for the South Africa ODIs last month, opened the innings with Shikhar Dhawan.

Dhawan scored a couple of fifties in the South Africa ODI series, in fact, he was the highest run-scorer for India with 169 runs from three innings at an average of 56.33.

As newly appointed white-ball skipper Rohit Sharma came back to the squad after recovering from his hamstring injury, the question is who will open the innings for India.

KL Rahul’s numbers in the middle

Since 2020, Rahul has been seen batting more often in the middle order, mostly at No.5, a position where he averages 56.63, which is even better than his opening position average of 46.53.

Indian think-tank is trying to solve the middle-order batting woes which once again haunted them in their embarrassing whitewash against the Proteas.

You get a permanent number four batter in KL Rahul: Rajkumar Sharma

Rajkumar Sharma, childhood coach of Indian batter Virat Kohli, is of the opinion that Rahul’s place should be cemented at No.4, a position where he has scored 160 runs from five innings.

“The sort of form Shikhar Dhawan has shown, it proves that he has a lot of cricket left in him. I believe if he opens along with Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli plays at No.3, then KL Rahul is the most suitable choice at No. 4,” Rajkumar told India News.

“I am seeing it from the World Cup perspective. You get a permanent number four batter, something which the Indian team is searching for, for a very long while. He can play the long innings, he has the temperament and the technique, he accelerates his knock, he is good at finding the singles,” he added.

India will play against West Indies in three ODI matches and as many T20 Internationals, the white-ball series starts with the first ODI on Sunday (February 6) in Ahmedabad.

For the first time, Rohit will lead the team in the One-Day format since he was handed the complete white-ball captaincy ahead of India’s tour of South Africa.

Also Read: IND vs WI: Rohit Sharma Confirms His Opening Partner For The First ODI