Gabbar back with Hitman! Shikhar Dhawan to open with Rohit Sharma

Byline Shreeram GokhaleFollowing the Indian teamrsquos win in a closely fought T20I series the focus now shifts to the slightly longer format as Virat Kohlirsquos men take on world champions England in the first of the threematch ODI series at the Maharashtra Cricket Association stadium here on TuesdayThe Indian team management faces the problem of plenty especially in the batting department It will be interesting to see what combination the team management opts for With skipper Kohli confirming that Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan will open the batting while he and Shreyas Iyer are the indispensable No 3 and No 4 the choice for No 5 becomes crucial India have trusted KL Rahul in that position for a while now with reasonable successWill Suryakumar playBut with Suryakumar Yadav showing terrific form in both his T20I innings it will be tough to ignore him Rahulrsquos below par T20I series doesnrsquot help his case eitherOn form Rishabh Pant at No 6 and Hardik Pandya at No 7 looks a certainty too which effectively means Rahul could be the unfortunate one at least for the time being In realistic terms he could be competing with Pant for the wicketkeeperrsquos slot or with Dhawan for the openerrsquos slotWhile Rahul could be the unlucky one there is no luck involved as far as Suryakumar is concerned He has waited for his opportunity patiently has scored loads of runs time and again in domestic cricket and has proven that he is ready for the top level and deserved his opportunitySuryakumarrsquos 31ball 57 in his maiden T20I innings followed by a 17ball 32 is proof enough that he can play the role of the finisher or the guy who can up the tempo in the middle oversWhile the pace bowling department looks more or less sorted in the form of Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Shardul Thakur the spin department becomes an interesting choiceKohli has usually preferred the tight offspin of Washington Sundar and guile of leggie Yuzvendra Chahal So it wonrsquot be a surprise if he sticks with them ahead of Krunal Pandyarsquos leftarm orthodox or Kuldeep Yadavrsquos chinaman But that will mean Pandya has to bowl a full quota of 10 overs Is he ready for itEngland are well setEngland have a wellset white ball unit and a clear template about the way they like to go about it The square boundaries are not too big and that makes it important for the skippers to correctly choose the ends from which they operate their spinnersThe city of Pune has witnessed some unseasonal rain in the last couple of days and a couple of afternoon showers have been predicted for Tuesday tooAlthough itrsquos not expected to ruin play too much the rain could add an interesting dimension to the match possibly making the pitch a bit quicker and helping the ball come on to the bat nicelyIt looks like it will be a game full of runs Unfortunately though there would be no crowd to celebrate all those big hits owing to the Covid19 restrictions in the state