Availability of top order batsmen Murali Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan and Rahul gives Virat Kohli a welcome headache ahead of today's Eden Gardens Test
For the first time in the last couple of years, Murali Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan and KL Rahul are all fit and available for selection. That presents India with a dilemma of choice akin to a situation in chess called Zugzwang - when the only viable move is not to move. Virat Kohli alluded to the same on the eve of the first Test against Sri Lanka in Kolkata. "That situation has always been there. The balance has swung every now and then between two guys doing well and one guy missing out. It happened with KL initially then in between with Shikhar. And now that Shikhar and KL have been playing well, it's very difficult to pick two out of three when all three are so good," said Kohli.
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India opener Shikhar Dhawan during a training session at Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Monday. Pic/PTI
While Rahul is perhaps the automatic choice given his consistency since the Tests against Australia, Vijay and Dhawan present a happy headache to the team management. Dhawan, who was out of contention for most of the home Test season last year, suddenly found himself in the fray when Vijay's wrist injury resurfaced and Rahul was ruled out of the first Test against Sri Lanka in Galle with fever.
KL Rahul
As is his wont, he responded with a swashbuckling 190 in Galle and followed it up with another hundred in the third Test at Pallekele. On statistics and recent form, Dhawan is far ahead of Vijay with a batting average in excess of 60 (helped largely by two hundreds in Sri Lanka) in the last one year, as opposed to the latter's 36.71.
Murli Vijay
But rummage beyond the crust, and Vijay's overseas record tilts the balance in his favour. With India scheduled to tour South Africa, England, Australia and New Zealand over the next 18 months, it is crucially important to note that the last time the team was on the globe trot, Vijay was one of the only three batsmen to average over 40.
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