Questions continue to be raised on who would be India’s opening pair for the ICC T20 World Cup. Will it be Rohit Sharma & Yashasvi Jaiswal. Or should Virat Kohli open after his magnificent stint in IPL 2024 with RCB. While Pundits remain divided on the opinion, Sanjay Manjrekar has claimed that it impossible to have Virat Kohli batting at 3.
“Ideally, I wouldn’t have gone that way (rooting for Rohit and Kohli as the opening pair). I would have stuck with a slightly younger core set of players. But the selectors have committed themselves to the icons – The Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. And now it is impossible to have Virat Kohli batting at number 3, because then you don’t get the full value of Virat. And also Rohit will open,” Sanjay Manjrekar said in the Star Sports Newsroom.
No chance for Yashasvi Jasiwal?
“Now India in a way have forced themselves to have only one kind of combination, i.e. two right handers. Unfortunately, Jaiswal will have to sit out. I would have gone completely with a new lot then you would have got more flair. But Indian have trusted their seniors, a move that hasn’t worked over the years. Let’s hope it works this time,” Manjrekar added.
Yashasvi Jaiswal is the only left handed top order batsman that India has in the squad. Should India opt to go with the likes of Rohit and Virat as openers, that means young Jaiswal won’t get his chance. Virat Kohli has been the man to watch out for in IPL 2024 with Royal Challengers Bengaluru. He opened the innings for his side and played exceptionally well, amassing 741 runs in 15 innings to win the Orange Cap.
“I would have liked to have a left hander for sure in the opening – Yashasvi Jaiswal. Because there might be a time if Rohit and Virat open the innings, then a left arm spinner can come. So you need to cut that out, and if you don’t have a left handed batter, you will be struggling. And these can happen in big games,” Irfan Pathan concluded.
What needs to be done?
And now the question is raised, what would be the most viable option in such a scenario. Under ideal conditions, the best option would be use Rohit and Yashasvi as the opening pair. Not only will they be able to rotate strikes well, Rohit can play his aggressive cricket, knowing young Yashasvi won’t go all bonkers.
If either of the openers fall, then Kohli can walk down at number 3. It is his ideal position and he would be the best suited player to play in that position. Virat has opened in T20I for India on 9 occasions while he has played at number 3 80 times. While the stats are highly in favour of Kohli batting at 3, the only thing that goes against him is the strike rate.
While opening for India, Kohli has a mammoth strike rate of 161.29. But he would be the best fit at 3, given that India has two destructive openers in form of Rohit and Jaiswal.
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