World Cup 2019: KL Rahul to open, Vijay Shankar at No.4

India's KL Rahul. Pic/AFP

On the eve of the Australia match, skipper Virat Kohli stressed on how lucky he is to have quality openers like Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma. Twenty-four hours later, he was left to rue the thumb injury suffered by Dhawan at The Oval.

As India braced themselves to prepare for the void left by Dhawan, who is definitely set to miss today's clash v New Zealand, the high-voltage match against Pakistan as well as the Afghanistan clash, Kohli was seen having a long chat with KL Rahul here yesterday.

Rahul was essentially picked in the team as a back-up opener, but his impressive form and good outings in the warm-up games forced the team management to play him at No. 4.

In the first match v South Africa in challenging Southampton conditions, Rahul's 26 was precious as the team chased 228. In the last match v Australia, he was sent in at No. 6 where he scored an unbeaten 11 off three balls to take India over the 350-run mark.

With Dhawan out of action, Rahul has now been asked to open the innings with Rohit Sharma today. Vijay Shankar looks to be first choice for the No. 4 position. The Tamil Nadu lad was the first to bat in the nets. "As far as the batting order goes, yes, KL moves up at the top of the order, and there are various options the team management can utilise going into the next game. Obviously, Vijay Shankar is going to be an option, and there are a couple of others as well," said Bangar.

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