ICC T20 World Cup 2021 – Opening Batsman for India: Lately, there has been a lot of discussions over the opening pair for India in the shortest format. With a lot of options available, the confusion is compounded. It has become a really tough job for the Indian skipper to pick the strongest playing 11 from a bunch of brilliant 25 players in the squad.
The discussions got a huge boost with the approaching ICC T20 World Cup 2021, which is slated to begin on 17th October in the UAE and Oman.
Team India’s limited-overs vice-captain Rohit Sharma is one fixed opener and the audition for the second is still on.
The selectors will keep their keen eyes on the performances of Shikhar Dhawan in the upcoming India-Sri Lanka series. KL Rahul and Virat Kohli’s performances will also be tested in the IPL 2021 phase 2 in the opening slot.
Here in this article, we will be giving our predictions on India’s ICC T20 World Cup 2021 first-choice opening pair. These choices will be based on the facts and figures.
ICC T20 World Cup 2021 – Opening Batsman for India (Prediction):
Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul:
The most probable duo for the opening combo for India in the forthcoming ICC T20 World Cup 2021 will be Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul.
The pair has experienced huge success in the past in the format and are one of the most consistent cricketers.
Although, the recent past for KL Rahul, especially in the T20Is, has not been fruitful, however, his comeback performances in the IPL 2020 and 2021 are enough to encourage the selectors and Indian management.
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ICC T20 World Cup 2021 – Opening Batsman for India (Prediction).
Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul are the quickest opening pair to amass 1,000 partnership runs in the T20Is. Moreover, both the cricketers have shared three-century stands and five 50 runs stand in their 18 T20Is innings .
Giving a perfect start to the team is all management needs from its openers, Rohit and Rahul have mastered the art of it. Both the batsman score runs at an average of 59.94. Scoring with the run rate of 10.15 in the T20Is ensures the best possible boost to the innings for India.
Furthermore, Shikhar Dhawan keeps the mindset of settling down at the crease and stay as long as possible to put up a high total for the opposition, however, Virat Kohli strongly disagrees with this thought of Shikhar Dhawan in the T20Is.
The Indian skipper believes in putting the bowler under pressure by taking timely chances and score runs as fast as possible.
Both Rahul and Rohit don’t take much time to access the conditions and take on the bowlers from the very first ball which very much resembles Virat Kohli’s mentality and thought process.
Can Virat Kohli Open for India?
This could be the case, however, when we go with facts and figures, Virat’s presence for India at number three is more crucial. He has been victorious at that slot and has scored the majority of his runs.
The management would love to have his services at three.
Moreover, he cannot waste the talent of KL Rahul by pushing himself up. If KL doesn’t fit in the opening slot, it will be quite a task for the management to fit him somewhere in the middle order.
As of now, Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul looks a set opening pair for India to open in the ICC T20 World Cup 2021, however, the dynamics might change in the upcoming IPL 2021 and the India vs Sri Lanka limited-overs series.
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