Virat Kohli should open with Rohit Sharma in T20 World Cup: Sourav Ganguly
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NEW DELHI: In the forthcoming T20 World Cup in the Americas, Virat Kohli should begin the batting with India captain Rohit Sharma because he is more than capable of scoring a forty-ball century similar to Travis Head, former captain Sourav Ganguly remarked on Monday.
Kohli recently blasted a century off 67 balls against the Rajasthan Royals, but his strike rate came under fire when other teams’ openers were needing as many as 39 to 50 balls to reach the three-figure mark.
“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, you just need to go and hit. Mindset should be to hit and then we’ll see what happens after 5-6 overs,” Ganguly told PTI during a select media interaction.
Ganguly would prefer to see Rohit and Kohli open the T20 World Cup, but he would also like the selection committee, coach Rahul Dravid, and Rohit to make decisions that are best for the squad.
“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, Rohit and Virat should open.”
After a magnificent home Test series against England, has Yashasvi Jaiswal fallen off the radar in terms of T20 World Cup selection, taking his recent IPL form into account?
“I don’t think Yashasvi’s name has dropped too far down the ladder. He’s a special player,” Ganguly replied.
For him, selection for T20 World Cup shouldn’t be based on one IPL season.
“You have to look at every performance. A good team is a balance of experience and youth. Experienced players in India are tremendous and I’m not saying only because of the number of games they have played but it’s the performances they’ve put over a period of time. It’s unbelievable.
“So from that point of view, it has to be a mixture of young and youth. I’m sure the selectors are matured enough to see over a period of time, not just one IPL, but 2, 3, 4 IPLs.
“Like someone like Shivam Dube, he did it last year also. You gave him a chance for India, he whacked it there also. So they’ve done it over a period of time, Rishabh Pant, Dubey, Surya,” Ganguly gave his view point.
Rohit is nearing 37, Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja will be 36 by the end of this year. Does he feel that there is need for ushering in more young blood in the team?
“There’s nothing about young and old, It’s about how good you are and that is important for me. How is Jimmy Anderson playing Test cricket as a fast bowler at 41 and bowling 30 overs in an innings in a Test match?
“So there is no hard and fast rule for anything. The only hard and fast rule is talent, ability and performance. Look at MS Dhoni. He bats for 2 overs and hits 4 sixes. I would actually want him to bat more, but just see how good he is.”
KL should just be fearless
Ganguly has long praised KL Rahul‘s skill and variety of strokes, and his only request of the LSG captain is fearlessness.
“But for India, the most important thing in T20 cricket and I said that to Rahul in Australia (T20 World Cup) also, just play without fear. Just go and hit. There is long batting. You can always control if you lose wickets, but just go and hit.”
So what is it that Rahul should change?
“I think it depends on what the captain and the coach instructs him to do in the middle. The other day I saw him play an innings against Chennai, which Lucknow won, I thought he was exceptional. He played well at the top of the order and did exactly that was required to do at that moment.
“As I said, it’s about playing freely and playing without fear. That is a must in T20 cricket. Players like Virat, Rohit, Rishabh (Pant), Rahul, Surya (Yadav), Hardik (Pandya), Shivam Dube of CSK. They are exceptional talent, the six-hitting ability in all of them is enormous.”
Can old wine work in a new bottle?
With the exception of Virat Kohli’s memorable performance against Pakistan, India’s dreadful semi-final performance and lackluster batting in the 2022 World T20 tournament in Australia prompted calls for recruiting younger players with an unafraid attitude for the shorter format and allowing the players to express themselves freely.
But after two years, almost the same core team is once again going into another global event in the shortest format. Can the same set of people with a set mindset change themselves?
The Delhi Capitals team director, who was also a former BCCI president, advised the Indian team to just play “fearless cricket”, something that Rohit did during the power play of the ODI World Cup in 2023 and set the tone for India’s stellar campaign that ended in a heartbreaking defeat in the final.
“It’s not drastic change. They have the talent to do that change. We saw how Rohit Sharma batted in the 50 over World Cup. He just came and hit at the top and that’s why we were such a good side.
“He just put so much pressure on the opposition in the first 7-8 overs, it gave breathing space to the lower-order, and I think Virat and Rohit should do the same. They are great players.”
(With PTI inputs)
Kohli recently blasted a century off 67 balls against the Rajasthan Royals, but his strike rate came under fire when other teams’ openers were needing as many as 39 to 50 balls to reach the three-figure mark.
“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, you just need to go and hit. Mindset should be to hit and then we’ll see what happens after 5-6 overs,” Ganguly told PTI during a select media interaction.
Ganguly would prefer to see Rohit and Kohli open the T20 World Cup, but he would also like the selection committee, coach Rahul Dravid, and Rohit to make decisions that are best for the squad.
“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, Rohit and Virat should open.”
After a magnificent home Test series against England, has Yashasvi Jaiswal fallen off the radar in terms of T20 World Cup selection, taking his recent IPL form into account?
“I don’t think Yashasvi’s name has dropped too far down the ladder. He’s a special player,” Ganguly replied.
For him, selection for T20 World Cup shouldn’t be based on one IPL season.
“You have to look at every performance. A good team is a balance of experience and youth. Experienced players in India are tremendous and I’m not saying only because of the number of games they have played but it’s the performances they’ve put over a period of time. It’s unbelievable.
“So from that point of view, it has to be a mixture of young and youth. I’m sure the selectors are matured enough to see over a period of time, not just one IPL, but 2, 3, 4 IPLs.
“Like someone like Shivam Dube, he did it last year also. You gave him a chance for India, he whacked it there also. So they’ve done it over a period of time, Rishabh Pant, Dubey, Surya,” Ganguly gave his view point.
Rohit is nearing 37, Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja will be 36 by the end of this year. Does he feel that there is need for ushering in more young blood in the team?
“There’s nothing about young and old, It’s about how good you are and that is important for me. How is Jimmy Anderson playing Test cricket as a fast bowler at 41 and bowling 30 overs in an innings in a Test match?
“So there is no hard and fast rule for anything. The only hard and fast rule is talent, ability and performance. Look at MS Dhoni. He bats for 2 overs and hits 4 sixes. I would actually want him to bat more, but just see how good he is.”
KL should just be fearless
Ganguly has long praised KL Rahul‘s skill and variety of strokes, and his only request of the LSG captain is fearlessness.
“But for India, the most important thing in T20 cricket and I said that to Rahul in Australia (T20 World Cup) also, just play without fear. Just go and hit. There is long batting. You can always control if you lose wickets, but just go and hit.”
So what is it that Rahul should change?
“I think it depends on what the captain and the coach instructs him to do in the middle. The other day I saw him play an innings against Chennai, which Lucknow won, I thought he was exceptional. He played well at the top of the order and did exactly that was required to do at that moment.
“As I said, it’s about playing freely and playing without fear. That is a must in T20 cricket. Players like Virat, Rohit, Rishabh (Pant), Rahul, Surya (Yadav), Hardik (Pandya), Shivam Dube of CSK. They are exceptional talent, the six-hitting ability in all of them is enormous.”
Can old wine work in a new bottle?
With the exception of Virat Kohli’s memorable performance against Pakistan, India’s dreadful semi-final performance and lackluster batting in the 2022 World T20 tournament in Australia prompted calls for recruiting younger players with an unafraid attitude for the shorter format and allowing the players to express themselves freely.
But after two years, almost the same core team is once again going into another global event in the shortest format. Can the same set of people with a set mindset change themselves?
The Delhi Capitals team director, who was also a former BCCI president, advised the Indian team to just play “fearless cricket”, something that Rohit did during the power play of the ODI World Cup in 2023 and set the tone for India’s stellar campaign that ended in a heartbreaking defeat in the final.
“It’s not drastic change. They have the talent to do that change. We saw how Rohit Sharma batted in the 50 over World Cup. He just came and hit at the top and that’s why we were such a good side.
“He just put so much pressure on the opposition in the first 7-8 overs, it gave breathing space to the lower-order, and I think Virat and Rohit should do the same. They are great players.”
(With PTI inputs)
