India start their campaign against Ireland on June 5 in New York before facing Pakistan four days later.
New Delhi: Should India go with the usual Yashasvi Jaiswal-Rohit Sharma opening combination in the T20 World Cup 2024? Will Virat Kohli open the innings for India instead of Jaiswal? These are two of the most searched questions surrounding the Indian team as the Men’s in Blue’s campaign opener against Ireland on June 5 in New York draws near.
The Indian team have been training in New York for the past four days. While the first day comprised of strength and conditioning, the focus was on specific roles from the second day onwards. However, India are yet to have a full intense training session yet in New York. Interestingly, Kohli is yet to train with the side after landing in the United States on Friday.
With Kohli in the mix, India opened with Rohit and Sanju Samson at the top while Rishabh Pant batted at No.3 against Bangladesh in the warm-up tie on Saturday. The likes of Suryakumar, Shivam Dube, Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja followed. Interestingly, specialist opener Yashasvi Jaiswal didn’t feature in the game, giving an indication that the Kohli-Rohit might open against Ireland.
Kohli Opening The Innings Gives Rohit Extra Options
With Kohli opening the innings, it will be give Rohit the liberty to play both Dube and Pandya in the playing XI. Kohli has been in brilliant form with 600-plus runs in IPL 2024 while opening the innings for Royal Challengers Bengaluru. Considering Pant’s 32-ball 55 against Bangladesh, it won’t be a bad idea to play the southpaw at one down where he can go after the bowlers to continue the momentum.
Suryakumar Yadav, Dube and Pandya should bat at No. 4, 5 and 6 respectively. With Ravindra Jadeja at No.7, including Axar Patel next in the line-up gives Rohit an extra batting option. That leaves Yuzvendra Chahal out of the mix with Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah and Arshdeep Singh completing the XI.
India start their campaign against Ireland on June 5 at the Nassau County Cricket International Stadium before playing Pakistan at the same venue four days later.
India’s Predicted Playing XI At T20 World Cup 2024: Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah and Arshdeep Singh