Don’t be surprised if you see Virat Kohli Walked out to open the batting with Rohit Sharma in the T20 World Cup in USA and West Indies in June. The Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee is reportedly keen to have Kohli as Rohit’s opening partner for the world event. According to a Dainik Jagan report, a meeting held in Mumbai last week in which captain Rohit, head coach Rahul Dravid and all-rounder Ajit Agarkar were present, the possibility of Kohli becoming the opener was seriously discussed.
There has been a lot of speculation about Kohli’s place in India’s T20 World Cup squad to be announced in a fortnight, but all doubts have reportedly been put to rest. It is not certain when Kohli’s place in the T20 squad will be RohitDravid and the selectors met after the ODI World Cup last year. But a lot has changed in the last few months.
Kohli made himself available for the Afghanistan home series. He and Rohit returned to T20Is for the first time in nearly two years. He batted in his preferred No.3 slot in the two matches where he opened the batting with Yassavi Jaiswal Rohit. But in the upcoming version T20 World CupThat may change.
The Jagran report adds that Kohli wanted clarity from the selection committee about his place in the T20 World Cup and he came up with the opening gambit.
Kohli is opening regularly Royal Challengers Bangalore In the last few seasons of IPL. He is the current Orange Cap holder with 361 runs at a strike rate of 147 in seven matches. He has already scored a century.
Virat Kohli’s number as opener
It is not that Kohli has not achieved this feat in international cricket. In fact, he started his international career as an opener in ODIs against Sri Lanka in 2008. Gradually, he shifted to the No.3 slot and made it his own. He has a good record as an opener in T20Is. In 9 matches, the former India captain has scored 400 runs at an average of 57, which is higher than his career T20I average of 51.
Furthermore, Kohli’s strike rate jumps from 138 to 161 when opening the batting in this format. His only T20I century, which is the highest individual score by an Indian in the shortest format, came while opening the batting against Afghanistan in Asia Cup 2022.
Only when Kohli opened with Rohit did India put 224 runs on the board against England with an opening partnership of 94 runs in 9 overs. For India, Kohli scored 80 runs off 52 balls, while Rohit scored 64 runs off 34 balls.
Yassav Jaiswal will have to sit out the Kohli Open along with Rohit
If Kohli opens with Rohit in the T20 World Cup, it will open up space in India’s middle order for power hitters like Rinku Singh, Shivam Dubey or Ryan Parag who can carry the opposition attack after the powerplay. Suryakumar Yadav can then come in at No.3 and bowl more deliveries to have a big impact on the game.
However, it also means Successful Jaiswal Have to sit outside. The selectors are a bit keen to pick up Shubman Gill as a backup opener mainly because of his IPL returns. Before the start of the 17th edition, Jaiswal was the frontrunner to grab the opener’s spot but after the first few matches of the IPL, things tilted slightly towards the GT skipper. Jaiswal couldn’t get the ball rolling but Gill was steady. But the fact that Jaiswal is a left-hander can work in his favour.