Legendary Indian cricketer, Sunil Gavaskar has come in support of the idea coined by Shane Warne that India can try out the opening with Rishabh Pant alongside Rohit Sharma.

As per the quotes in India Today, Gavaskar said, “Yes, why not. If you open with Rishabh Pant, it opens up a third option for you as well. If he does well at the top, he is someone who can also be played in the middle order.”

Australia legendary spinner was the first to throw up the idea and explained that the X-factor might just work.

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Warne expressed, “I can’t see why Rishabh Pant can’t play as a batsman. Maybe even open the batting with Rohit Sharma. I know Shikhar Dhawan does a great job but Rishabh Pant opening the batting with Rohit Sharma could be pretty cool too for India. Go with some of these X-factor type things and tactical battles where you surprise the opposition. Maybe against Australia now (upcoming series) and experiment and see how he goes for the World Cup. Dhawan may have a role to play somewhere else. But I am really looking forward to seeing what India have because they have a lot of players who can do a lot of roles.”

While Rohit and Shikhar have been one of India’s most successful opening pairs, the southpaw has registered only cameos off late with big innings still eluding him.

Describing the same, Gavaskar said, “Pant is a left-hander as well. It’s important to have a left-right combination going because it does make the bowlers’ task that much more difficult. That’s why Rohit-Dhawan have been so successful. So have Sachin-Ganguly and Sehwag-Ganguly in the past. So, if Pant succeeds as an opener, that’s great for your side.”

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The Indian selectors will have a meeting in Mumbai on Friday to pick the squad for the limited-overs series against Australia and Pant’s could be zeroed in as an opener.