Bangar sees benefits of India having Rohit Sharma as Test opener

Rohit has been touted as a potential opener for the upcoming three-Test home series against South Africa, with chief selector MSK Prasad floating the idea while explaining the Mumbai batsman's selection.

Rohit, who did not play in either Test during the West Indies tour, has never opened in Test cricket, where he averages a shade under 40, after 27 matches in a stop-start career. By extension, he does not have a proven track record of opening the innings in long-form cricket, having played from that position just three times at the first-class level.

Bangar, however, said the move could work if Rohit is allowed the freedom to express himself, as he is in limited-overs cricket, where he has become a colossus. "At the moment, there is no place in the settled middle order in the Test team," Bangar told ESPNcricinfo.

"Opening will be a new challenge for him, since he has rarely done it in the longer formats. But the advantage is that he will get to bat against a hard ball, with plenty of gaps in the field. He will also not have to wait for his turn to bat, which will save his mental energy.

"If he succeeds, his style of play will be extremely helpful to the team. It might result in being able to successfully chase down targets that we haven't achieved in the past, like in Cape Town and Edgbaston. The key to his success will be if he maintains his individual style of play. He has to maintain his individuality."

Bangar's comments are reflective of the wider sentiment at the moment. With KL Rahul having run out of rope, after just one fifty-plus score in his last 22 innings, and Prithvi Shaw currently serving a doping ban, while Shikhar Dhawan has long been phased out of the team's red-ball plans, India aren’t exactly spoilt for choice.

The idea of opening with Rohit has picked up steam given Rohit's record-breaking run at the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2019 in June-July. Sourav Ganguly is one of those who has backed him in that position to revive his Test career.

Bangar knows a thing or two about resurrecting careers – he took charge after a disastrous England tour in 2014, when star batsman Virat Kohli returned with 134 runs in 10 innings. When India toured the country next, in 2018, Kohli put the blip behind him and hit back with 593 runs – the most from either side – to be named India’s player of the tournament, even as his team suffered a 4-1 defeat.

Bangar also oversaw Ajinkya Rahane's two-year century drought in Test cricket, which ended during last month's West Indies tour. In all, Rahane passed fifty thrice in four innings. "Rahane missed out on converting a lot of fifties into hundreds in the last 18 months or so, but otherwise, he contributed in all our overseas victories," Bangar said of the team's vice-captain. "He contributed in Johannesburg, in Nottingham and in Adelaide.

"We worked a lot on leading with his head and shoulder to get a proper stride into the shot, and also on finishing his trigger movements before the ball was released. I was very happy for him that he eventually crossed the three-figure mark in West Indies, where once again he played a pivotal role under seaming conditions. He has been very gracious in acknowledging that the things we've worked on together have helped him at various points."