After getting a pleasing start in the ongoing five-match series against England, India lost the momentum after being crushed by 266 runs in the third Test at Rose Bowl.
Though the series is evenly poised at 1-1 after the third Test, the tourists are certainly at the back foot. Before the start of the fourth Test at Manchester, India have many things to ponder upon. And one among them is the poor patch of one of their openers, Shikhar Dhawan, whose highest score is 37 after the first three Tests.
In the six innings, the southpaw scored 12, 29, 7, 31, 6, 37 runs respectively. Though, at times he got the start, he failed to convert them into big knocks, like many other Indian batsmen in the series. Even after being shown enough faith by the Indian skipper MS Dhoni, Dhawan failed to seize the moment and flopped to impress with the bat in English conditions.
But now Dhoni should give a chance to Gautam Gambhir, who has been selected as a reserve opener for the much-hyped tour. Indian skipper should utilise the services of the southpaw, who is the most experienced player in the current Indian squad.
Gauti would be eagerly waiting for his chance in the playing X1 after warming the bench in the first three Tests. In the two practice matches against Leics and Derbyshire, before the start of the series, Gambhir played confident knocks of 54 and 21 (not out), respectively.
In fact, this year he led his IPL franchise, Kolkata Knight Riders, to their second IPL trophy as well and would be high on confidence. Now it`s up to Dhoni to take a call on the ageing cricketer.
The fourth Test is scheduled to start from August 7 at Manchester.
