While Rohit Sharma had cemented him place in the opening slot back in the home Tests in 2019, Gill made his debut in Australia on the recent tour and impressed with his strokeplay, and notching scores of 50, 31, 7 and 91. The two added 70 and 71 in the third Test in Sydney. They, however, failed to score big in the two innings of the second Test.

 

"We are looking forward to them playing all the Tests and give us good starts like they did in Australia," said Kohli at the MA Chidambaram Stadium.

 

"If you look at the Tests we won, the reason behind us being in strong positions was because of the kind of starts we got. In Test cricket, that is a very, very important factor. Rohit and Shubman both provided us with that. We are both looking forward to more of that from them in this series to put us in strong position. We are definitely looking for good starts from them in all the matches they play," said Kohli.

 

The last time India had played at home, against Bangladesh, Rohit and Mayank Agarwal had opened the innings. Agarwal is also in the squad but failure to get a fifty in last eight innings has pushed him out of the playing XI.