Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma should be India’s openers in World Cup: Sourav Ganguly

New Delhi: Sourav Ganguly, the former India skipper currently serving as director of cricket at Delhi Capitals, thinks that captain Rohit Sharma and talismanic batter Virat Kohli should open the batting in the Men’s T20 World Cup, to be held from June 1 in West Indies and USA.

Rohit had been declared as India’s captain for the mega event by BCCI Secretary Jay Shah at Rajkot in February, but who opens the batting alongside him is the question. Kohli is currently the leading run-getter in IPL 2024, amassing 379 runs in eight innings as an opener for the Royal Challengers Bengaluru.

The other opening contender is young left-handed batter Yashasvi Jaiswal, who’s been going through a lean patch for Rajasthan Royals in the competition. Jaiswal, though, has smashed a half-century against Mumbai Indians in the ongoing IPL 2024 match at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur.

“Both will and should go to the West Indies. If you ask me and it’s just my personal opinion and I’m not saying that the selectors should do it, because at the end of the day, it’s their call, but Rohit and Virat should open.”

“Virat Kohli has got the capability of getting a 40-ball 100 also. As I said at the start, India, with the talent they have, just need to go and hit. The mindset should be to hit and then we’ll see what happens after 5-6 overs. But I don’t think Yashasvi’s name has dropped too far down the ladder. He’s a special player,” said Ganguly in a select media interaction organised by the franchise on Monday.

Kohli scored a 67-ball century against Rajasthan Royals but received flak for it because of his low strike-rate in a tournament where an attacking Travis Head also smashed a ton, but in 39 balls. Head’s overall strike-rate of 216 in the tournament is way more than Kohli, whose strike-rate is at 150.39 currently.

“For India, the most important thing in T20 cricket and I said this to Rahul (Dravid) in Australia (after the 2022 T20 World Cup) also. ‘Just play without fear.’ You can always control the innings if you lose wickets, but just go and hit. It’s not a drastic change. They have the talent to do that change.”

“We saw how Rohit batted at the 50-overs World Cup. He just came and hit from ball one and we were able to put so much pressure on the opposition in the first seven-eight overs. It gave breathing space for the lower order. I think Virat and Rohit should do the same. They’re great players,” added Ganguly, (IANS)

Also Read: IPL 2024: Ricky Ponting, Sourav Ganguly share insights on skipper Rishabh Pant’s readiness for the season

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