"My compromise would be Jaiswal and Ruturaj Gaikwad to continue and Shubman Gill at No. 3" - Sanjay Manjrekar on India's opening conundrum in SA T20Is

Sanjay Manjrekar feels India might have to bat Shubman Gill at No. 3 as they would want to persist with the opening pair of Ruturaj Gaikwad and Yashasvi Jaiswal in the upcoming T20I series against South Africa.

The Men in Blue will lock horns with the Proteas in three T20Is, with the first game to be played in Durban on Sunday, December 10. Gill, Gaikwad and Jaiswal are the three specialist openers in India's 17-member T20I squad, with Ishan Kishan an additional option.

During a discussion on the Star Sports show 'Game Plan', Manjrekar was asked to pick India's potential batting lineup, to which he responded:

"Will India think of disturbing this opening combination of Ruturaj Gaikwad and Yashasvi Jaiswal? However, Shubman Gill has that track record. My compromise would be Jaiswal and Ruturaj Gaikwad to continue and Shubman Gill at No. 3."

While picking four other batters, the former India cricketer struggled to fit in a wicketkeeper in the top seven. He said:

"I will bat at Suryakumar Yadav at No. 4. Then you have got Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh and Shreyas Iyer - that's your batting order. There is tremendous depth. How do I fit in Ishan Kishan? I am struggling."

The Indian think-tank will have a selection dilemma while choosing their playing XI for the T20Is against South Africa. Their problems might get compounded if and when seniors like Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, along with the injured Hardik Pandya, are back in the mix in the shortest format.

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"You can have Shubman Gill at No. 3" - Irfan Pathan

Shubman Gill has always batted at the top of the order in T20I cricket. [P/C: BCCI]

Irfan Pathan concurred with Sanjay Manjrekar's views that Shubman Gill could bat at No. 3 when asked to help with the likely batting order. He reasoned:

"If you have three options as youngsters who can open the innings, that will be fantastic going forward, especially in South Africa. If you lose an early wicket, you need to make sure that the guy coming in has good experience of playing against the new ball. So you can have Shubman Gill at No. 3."

The former India all-rounder chose Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Rinku Singh and Jitesh Sharma to complete the top seven. He elaborated:

"At No. 4, I will have Shreyas Iyer. Then obviously Suryakumar Yadav will come at No. 5 and then Rinku Singh. Unfortunately, Tilak Varma will have to miss out. Ishan Kishan also misses out because if he is batting down the order, I will have Jitesh Sharma as the wicketkeeper."

However, Pathan acknowledged that such a selection would leave India with only four frontline bowling options. He added that either Rinku or one of the top three will have to make way if the visitors play three seamers and two spinners.