India vs South Africa 2019: Rohit Sharma can be succees as Test opener: Gilchrist

Mumbai, September 12: Rohit Sharma can be a success as Test opener, felt former Australian cricketer Adam Gilchrist.

The India national selectors are to pick the squad for the Test series against South Africa and it is expected that Rohit might be asked to open along with Mayank Agarwal instead of KL Rahul who is going through a prolonged lean patch.

"When the Indian team is playing at home, Rohit can most definitely play as an opener. It might be more challenging when touring Australia, South Africa and England," Gilchrist, who opened in ODI cricket and batted in the middle-order in Test cricket, said.

"There is no reason why Rohit can't be successful in Test cricket. I love Rohit. We've played together for Deccan Chargers in the IPL. I think Rohit deceives people. By that I mean that since he is a laid back guy, people might think he is not working hard enough. In reality, he is world-class. If Rohit wants to be an opener, there is no reason why he cannot succeed," said Gilchrist.

"But it would take a change in his mindset, in his batting approach, particularly overseas. He's got to want to do it, no one should force him," he said. If it happened so, Rohit could open in the first Test against South Africa in Visakhapatnam beginning on October 2.