England v India 2018, 2nd Test: 3 Indian players suitable for the opening slot

A nail-biting Test match between England and India at Edgbaston has created a buzz around the cricket fraternity, going further into the series. Being England's 1000th Test match, they became the first international team to achieve this rare feat.

The Indian team were largely kept alive in the match by Kohli's gritty knock of 149 in the first innings (his first hundred in England). Unfortunately, they couldn't sustain the momentum gained from the spectacular knock due to top order failures and dropped slip catches.

Facing a target of 194, the burden was again on Kohli as other top order batsman failed to step-up against the rejuvenated England bowling attack. They failed to apply their skills and faltered against the likes of Broad and Stokes in the 2nd innings.

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Options for opening slot

Any team which has won in England on previous tours happened to have a good opening pair, scoring plenty of runs. The opening batsmen have the huge responsibility of seeing through the new ball and help the middle-order batsmen to dominate the rest of the innings (No.3, 4, and 5).

Since Shikhar Dhawan failed to do so, India might consider the following options for a better opener in place of Shikhar.

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#3: Lokesh Rahul

KL Rahul- The future star of Indian cricket

The stylish right-handed batsman was in tremendous form in the limited overs series against England. However, continuous chop and change in the opening slot has put him in a miserable state of mind, resulting in poor outcome in the 1st test.

Since his debut against the Aussies at Melbourne (2014), Rahul has played majority of his career as an opener, notching up 4 hundreds and 11 fifties with a high score of 199. Hence, the team management must decide to give Rahul an extended run at the opening slot to build his confidence back.

#2: Cheteshwar Pujara

Pujara is likely to be in playing XI considering Dhawan's poor form

Considered as one of the most technically sound batsmen in the Indian set-up, Pujara was dropped for the 1st Test due to his poor performance on the South Africa tour.

If the team management continues to experiment with Rahul at No.3, Pujara can be given a chance as an opener. He has the temperament to hold his own against swinging and seaming conditions.

Pujara along with Vijay can provide stability in the top order and set the stage for Rahul, Virat and Rahane to attack when the England bowlers are back for their 2nd and 3rd spells.

#1: Dinesh Karthik

Dinesh Karthik's experience can be apt for the opening slot

The classy wicket-keeper batsman who has made a comeback into the playing XI as a replacement for Saha, can be considered for the opening slot in the 2nd match.

For those who are not aware of Karthik's performances as an opener, he has quite a bit of his First-Class cricket as an opening batsman. His best performance for India came against England in 2007, where he ended up with most runs for India in the series with 263 runs (3 fifties) in three Test matches while opening the batting.

Promoting Karthik as an opening batsman can give an opportunity for players like Rishabh Pant or Ravindra Jadeja in the No.6 spot.