Gautam Gambhir speaks against Shikhar Dhawan opening the batting alongside KL Rahul in Sri Lanka series

Gautam Gambhir speaks against Shikhar Dhawan: The former Indian opening batsman was vocal about the out-of-form southpaw.

There is no hiding to the fact that India will be eyeing to zero in on their second opening batsman in T20Is in the absence of limited-overs vice-captain Rohit Sharma in the ongoing series against Sri Lanka.

With the first match in Guwahati was washed out due to rain, India have two more opportunities to see who out of Shikhar Dhawan and Lokesh Rahul should be their first-choice batsman to open the innings with Sharma who has been rested for this series.

While Dhawan has been Sharma’s opening partner for years now, a significant decrease in his strike rate has started to raise questions as far as his position at the top of the order in T20Is is considered.

Dhawan, 34, recently missed the T20I series against West Indies due to an injury. Him returning with below par numbers for Delhi in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy in addition to Rahul scoring two half-centuries at a strike rate of 159.37 against West Indies has further put the latter ahead in the race.

Gautam Gambhir speaks against Shikhar Dhawan

Speaking on Star Sports before the first T20I, former India opening batsman Gautam Gambhir also opined against Dhawan opening the batting in T20Is. Keep aside the looming ICC T20I World Cup in Australia, Gambhir also ruled out the option of Dhawan opening against Sri Lanka.

Gambhir, who has been a great admirer of wicket-keeper batsman Sanju Samson, believed he should be given the opportunity at the top of the order especially in the ongoing series. Been with the team in this home season, the Kerala player is yet to play a match.

While Samson has been among the runs in the Indian Premier League for some time now, his name started to do the rounds after he registered his maiden List A double century (also his maiden List A century after 86 matches) earlier this season.

It will be interesting to see if the Indian team includes the 25-year old Rajasthan Royals player for the remaining two T20Is against Sri Lanka.