The high-profile ICC Men’s T20 World Cup is scheduled to get underway from 17 October 2021 in UAE. Although the marquee tournament is still four months away, fans and experts have started making their bold predictions for it.
Team India’s playing XI is a hot discussion for cricket pundits. The former India cricket Deep Dasgupta has come up with a statement that it is very early to say that Virat Kohli will open with Rohit Sharma in the World Cup.
Indian captain Virat Kohli opened the innings with deputy Rohit Sharma in the recent England series. In the five-match T20I series against England at home, Kohli and Rohit opened in the 5th match.
Notably, they had an exceptionally good performance while batting together at the top. Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli had a remarkable 94 runs partnership. Also, the two top batsmen were in great form as Rohit scored 64 and Virat scored 80 runs respectively. The Indian skipper also talked about Opening in the Indian Premier League for RCB and the subsequent T20 World Cup tournament.
Cricketer turned commentator Deep asserted that things will depend on KL Rahul’s form in the upcoming matches. Deep mentioned in his YouTube video:
“Well it’s possible, and Virat also mentioned during the last series, that he’s seriously thinking about opening with Rohit, he might or whatever he said. But I don’t know whether it’s the right way to go about it. A lot will depend on how KL Rahul’s form is.”
KL Rahul can open with Rohit Sharma in the T20 World Cup: Deep Dasgupta
KL Rahul has been performing consistently for team India in the limited-overs format. Last year he was India’s main man in T20Is and a sensational performer for Punjab Kings in the IPL. If he provides a good start the explosive batsman like Rishabh Pant and Hardik Pandya can play freely.
“If KL Rahul is batting the way he was a year ago then I don’t see any reason why Virat should open. Then Rohit and KL can open, and Virat can come at three… I won’t say Virat and Rohit ‘will’ open at this point in time, I will say that option is still is open,” he added.
The little problem with Rahul batting at the top is his strike rate, Rahul is often seen start his innings with a very low strike rate. In T20 format utilizing powerplay is very important and sometimes Rahul is unable to do that. However, he has been improving his strike rate at a very fast pace.
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