The absence of some key players and a struggling opponent has prompted the Indian team management to toy with the idea of promoting young Parthiv Patel to open the innings in the TVS Cup tri-series one-day international against Bangladesh in Dhaka on Wednesday.
With captain Sourav Ganguly deciding to rest his injured back, the team management is keen to try out Patel as an opener along with Gautam Gambhir in Wednesday's match, sources close to the team said.
Promotion for Patel would mean stand-in skipper Virender Sehwag will come one-down in the batting order.
Though Patel was in the team for the World Cup, he did not have much to do since vice-captain Rahul Dravid was donning the additional role of wicketkeeping.
But with Dravid skipping the Dhaka tournament due to injury, the 18-year-old will now get the opportunity to showcase his batting talents as an opener also.
Patel, the lone wicketkeeper in the 15-member squad, was quite impressive behind the stumps in the first two matches of the series. He scored four runs in India's opener and did not get a chance to bat in India's second match.
But the Gujarat youngster is perceived as a gutsy cricketer who has a lot of batting talent and could be successful as an opener, which would give the team the option of going in with five regular bowlers.
The strong Indian batting line-up has not given Patel a chance to settle down as he comes in at a time when getting quick runs is the need of the moment. But there is no doubt that he has the talent to succeed with the bat. That was evident when he scored a match-saving innings in the second Test against England at Nottingham last year. It was a remarkable effort from a young man playing only his first Test.
Patel has played just three one-dayers with an average of 8.50 and effected five dismissals behind the stumps.
There is also a strong possibility that all-rounder Sanjay Bangar, another World Cupper who did not play a single match, will be included in the team in place of Ganguly, though middle order batsman Abhijit Kale could also be considered.
With five senior players making themselves unavailable for the tour due to various reasons, the team management is trying out new ideas in this low-profile tournament.
Ganguly has advocated the need to have good "back-up players" considering the amount of cricket being played these days and said the only way to test these fringe players is by giving them the opportunity to play.
He has a lot of faith in the newcomers, who he believes "have the potential to succeed at the highest level".
