Port of Spain: Since the Delhi T20I against South Africa in June this year, India have embraced a new, attacking batting approach, a big departure from their safety-first path which caused an early exit from the Men's T20 World Cup last year.
Going hard on the ball from the word go by the Indian batters irrespective of how the final result has come out has impressed former West Indies pacer-turned-commentator Ian Bishop.
"What was pleasing to see in that England (T20I) series was the high level of intent from the top-order. It didn't always come off, even in ODI cricket. But I think that's the way game has been heading ever since England held the charge in 50-over cricket in the last World Cup.
"The way T20 cricket is going now, you want a lot more intent. India would probably reflect on the T20 World Cup last year and say, 'We were a little over-cautious. We can't win tournaments playing like that; we got to be brave'," said Bishop in an exclusive interview with IANS.
In the second and third T20I matches against England, India got Rishabh Pant to open the batting alongside Rohit Sharma. With the Men's T20 World Cup less three months away, Bishop liked the intent shown by India till now and feels they have got options to decide the make-up of their top-order.
"So, trying Pant at the top is not a bad thing. You got to find out does he fit because he definitely has the intent. But if that doesn't work out after a few games, you got other options like the Ishan Kishans of this world. He can come in and slot in there."
"You have got KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma as well; so, there are a number of options India can use. I like the intent; that's heading in the right direction and they will find out who fits better as they go through next month or so."
In deciding the top-order for the T20 World Cup, India also need to see where their talismanic batter Virat Kohli fits in. Kohli has been in a prolonged lean patch and hasn't scored an international century since November 2019. In the tour of England, Kohli couldn't score a half-century and is not a part of the trip to the Caribbean. Bishop reckons Kohli should get a longer rein to rediscover form.
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