Should Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli Open The Innings in ICC World T20? Salman Butt Answers

Is this the right way ahead?

Since India captain Virat Kohli said after the third and final T20I against England that he would look forward to opening the batting in the shortest format with Rohit Sharma, there has been a lot of talk about if it is the right call. While most plaudits and fans feel it is the right way ahead with the T20 World Cup beckoning, former Pakistan cricketer Salman Butt has opined on the subject.

During a live session on his YouTube video channel, a fan asked, ‘Should Rohit Sharma and Kohli could open the innings for India in the T20 World Cup?’.

Replying to the fan, Butt said, “It depends and it’s possible. They (Rohit and Kohli) are India’s best players and Rohit Sharma anyway opens. Virat Kohli has been opening for his franchise, Royal Challengers (Bangalore in the IPL). But I feel we haven’t seen the best of him while opening the batting in international cricket recently. Moreover, they (India) have a left-hand-right-hand combination set. Shikhar Dhawan used to play earlier and lately, we have seen KL Rahul opening the batting.”

Despite there being many potential openers like Prithvi Shaw, KL Rahul, and Shikhar Dhawan in the ranks, Butt still feels the two best players – Rohit and Virat – should get to play the full quota of overs.

“They have a lot of options. You have Prithvi Shaw and other players who have performed in the IPL, so you have loads of options. So, it comes down to what Kohli chooses for himself. These two (Kohli and Rohit) are their top players and they’ll get the full quota of overs. If they play long, then every total is small for them,” he added.