India vs England: Rahul, Rohit to open, confirms Virat Kohli
Indian captain Virat Kohli, on Thursday, confirmed that Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul will open in the opening T20I against England. Kohli spoke on the same in a virtual press conference on the eve of series opener in Ahmedabad. He also mentioned that Shikhar Dhawan will play in the side as a "third opener". Here are the further details.
The duo has been performing at the top: Kohli
"It's quite simple, KL and Rohit have been performing at the top of the order for us and those two would start," the Indian skipper said in the virtual press conference. "And if Rohit takes rest or KL has a niggle or something Shikki (Shikhar Dhawan) obviously comes back as a third opener. The starting composition, Rohit and Rahul will start."
Dhawan and Rahul opened in Australia
Dhawan and Rahul opened for India in the T20I series Down Under as Rohit missed out due to injury. However, with Rohit's return, skipper Kohli had a difficult choice to make between Rahul and Dhawan. Considering Rahul's recent run in the Indian Premier League, he has been given the responsibility to open alongside Rohit. The former also gives an extra dimension with his wicket-keeping.
Kohli lays emphasis on X-factors
Besides the experienced openers, Kohli also focused on the uncapped players, who could well turn out to be the X-factors. The T20I side comprises several players who fared well in the IPL 2020, such as Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan and Rahul Tewatia. "We've tried to address a few things that we needed, guys who can be X-Factors which you need in T20s," added Kohli.
A look at the trio's performance IPL 2020
Suryakumar earned a national call-up on the back of a stellar IPL season with champions Mumbai Indians. He aggregated 480 runs in 15 innings at an explosive strike-rate of 145.02. Meanwhile, Kishan was MI's leading run-getter (516 runs at 57.33). Tewatia also stole the show with his all-round propensity. Besides delivering his leggies, he anchored some incredible run-chases for Rajasthan Royals.
'The most balanced Indian squad', opines Kohli
"I feel the squad right now, barring Jaddu [Jadeja] who will come back whenever fit, is the squad that I feel is the most balanced in terms of all the options readily available to take on the field as and when we want," stated Kohli.
India vs England: First T20I to be played on Friday
India and England are all set to lock horns in the first T20I of five-match series on Friday at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad (7 PM IST). After winning the Test series 3-1, India will aim to replicate the results in T20Is. Meanwhile, visitors would want to make a turnaround in the shortest format. Notably, all the five T20Is will be played in Ahmedabad.
