India faced with top-order conundrum

Former skipper Sourav Ganguly has thrown his support behind KL Rahul to partner Murali Vijay in India's opening Test against England, beginning on Wednesday at Edgbaston.

Shikhar Dhawan, Rahul's key rival for an opening birth, put a major dent in his selection hopes in the ongoing warm-up draw with Essex at Chelmsford by making a pair, while Rahul made 58 in the middle order and 36no when given the chance to open in the second innings.

Vijay, who looks certain to open, made 53 in the first innings, spending a valuable three hours in the middle and facing 113 deliveries.

"I would go with Murali Vijay and KL Rahul as openers in the Test series," Ganguly told India TV.

"Shikhar Dhawan is a good ODI player, and he was in decent touch during the ODI series as well.

"However, when he opens in Test cricket in overseas conditions, he doesn’t have a good record, be it South Africa, England or Australia.

"In India, he scores hundreds in Test cricket ... it will be interesting to see the team management's decision on this."

Dhawan has struggled in all three aforementioned countries, averaging 22.06 from 18 innings – a figure that drops to 20.33 from six innings in England.

Rahul meanwhile, is yet to play Test cricket in England.

The alternative option for India's selectors would be to retain Dhawan at the top of the order, and replace regular No.3 Cheteshwar Pujara with Rahul. All three batsmen played India's most recent Test – against Afghanistan last month – when captain Virat Kohli was rested.

Pujara boasts an outstanding Test record, averaging 50.34 in 58 Tests, but has struggled with Yorkshire in the County Championship this season, making 172 runs at 14.33 with a highest score of 41. In India's five-Test series in England in 2014, the right-hander averaged 22.20 with a best of 55.

"Pujara hasn't had a good time playing for Yorkshire this summer," former England quick Darren Gough was quoted as saying by India Times.

"Based on that alone I am not sure he fits into their XI at the moment.

"So I can see India leaving Pujara out for the first Test because they need to get their batting line-up right."

Pujara was out for one early on day one against Essex, before making 23 in the second innings.