Figuring out the opening combination for India at the upcoming T20 World Cup has been a heated debate, as critics go back and forth on their options.
And now, former Indian international Irfan Pathan has thrown his suggestion into the gauntlet, stating that Yashasvi Jaiswal needs to open along skipper Rohit Sharma, for his dynamic style of play.
“See, as far as I’m concerned, the Indian openers should be Yashasvi Jaiswal and Rohit Sharma, purely because of the right-hand and left-hand combination. Don’t forget that Yashasvi Jaiswal’s international strike rate is 160 and you need that firepower,” stated Irfan Pathan on Star Sports’ Press Room Show.
But, it isn’t merely the selection of players that will dictate India’s chances at the World Cup, but rather the line-ups that will make the difference, believes Pathan.
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What will inspire a major difference, in the eyes of Pathan, is the positioning of Virat Kohli in the batting line-up.
Kohli, who has been India’s talisman batter for the better part of a decade now, is expected to make the cut once again without fail. But, in order for India to bring the best out of all their batters, Pathan believes that sending Virat out to open the innings would be the best course of action.
“If Virat opens up the batting, what happens is that it will allow the combination of 11 to be in a certain way, which you want. If that happens, you might see Shivam Dube playing, if he’s there in the squad. You might see guys like Rinku Singh in the playing 11 as well. But if Virat bats at number three, that might not happen. So that’s a big challenge.”
Speaking on the inclusion of Jaiswal again, Pathan reinstated that the youngster also provides an additional emergency bowling option, to add to the depth of the squad.
“The other thing, if Yashasvi Jaiswal is playing, what can happen as he’s actually been bowling regularly in the nets? So what you can do is you can actually play proper five bowlers and maybe have him as a sixth bowler, as an option to keep it. Otherwise, if you look at the batting order, no one bowls,” added Pathan.
“No one bowls in the top six and that’s the biggest challenge what we have as Indian cricket. And that’s what we need to consider that as well. So for me, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rohit Sharma and then Virat bats at number three.”
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