Former India captain and batting great Sunil Gavsakar backed KL Rahul to come good when he opens with Rohit Sharma in the absence of injured Shikhar Dhawan at World Cup 2019.
Rahul is expected to pair with Rohit Sharma at the top of the Indian batting order for the next few games in the World Cup after Shikhar Dhawan was found to have picked up a thumb fracture.
Dhawan has been put under observation but the BCCI has not yet named a replacement for the left-handed opener. Dhawan was hit on his thumb during India's 2nd match of World Cup 2019 vs Australia on Sunday but he braved the impact and went on to make a match-winning 117.
Rahul, who played at No.4 for Team India, will learn a lot when opening with Rohit Sharma, according to Gavaskar who spoke exclusively to India Today on Friday.
"When it comes to starting the innings, I think you do prefer somebody with whom you have opened before. In Rohit-Shikhar case there is never any hesitation in running between the wickets. They also know how to take the load off each other's shoulders. That kind of understanding takes a long time to build," Gavaskar said.
"But I think Rohit will enjoy batting with KL and Rahul will learn a lot from Rohit who has already scored 23 ODI hundreds on how to pace the innings. In my opinion, they might be a bit tentative at the start but once they are through the initial period, they should be fine."
India are scheduled to clash against New Zealand on June 13 at Trent Bridge.
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