Legendary Indian cricketer Harbhajan Singh has approved the pairing of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli as India's openers for their curtain-raiser of the ICC World T20 2024. Rohit's Team India is set to launch their title bid in the T20 World Cup with the upcoming game against Ireland on Wednesday. India warmed up for the ICC event by defeating Bangladesh in its first and only practice game in New York.
Speaking to reporters after the warm-up tie between India and Bangladesh, skipper Rohit admitted that the 2007 champions have not nailed down their batting unit for the T20 World Cup. With Kohli ruling the roost in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 as an opener, the Rahul Dravid-coached side can promote the in-form batter to the top. India will then have to sacrifice young Yashasvi Jaiswal's place to accommodate Kohli as Rohit's opening partner.
‘I feel it would be tough for Yashasvi Jaiswal to…’
Discussing India's potential playing XI in the lead-up to the Ireland clash, former India spinner Harbhajan explained why Kohli should open the innings with Rohit at the ICC tournament. "Batting is going to be difficult on this pitch. You need your big players in such situations and Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli should open. The platform that they can set, I feel it would be tough for Yashasvi Jaiswal to do the same in these conditions," Harbhajan said on his YouTube channel.
{{/usCountry}}Discussing India's potential playing XI in the lead-up to the Ireland clash, former India spinner Harbhajan explained why Kohli should open the innings with Rohit at the ICC tournament. "Batting is going to be difficult on this pitch. You need your big players in such situations and Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli should open. The platform that they can set, I feel it would be tough for Yashasvi Jaiswal to do the same in these conditions," Harbhajan said on his YouTube channel.
{{/usCountry}}The 2007 World Cup winner feels that the top-ranked batter, Suryakumar Yadav, should bat at Kohli's preferred position in the T20 World Cup. The spin-bowling icon completed India's strong batting line-up by picking the likes of Rishabh Pant, Shivam Dube, Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja. However, Harbhajan refused to sanction the reunion of spinners Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal in the Indian lineup.
"When I was in India, I said that spinners would play a big role in this T20 World Cup. However, after arriving here, I feel that while spinners will be useful, the fast bowlers will be in the game every single ball on this pitch. We saw what Anrich Nortje did in that spell. Even an ordinary bowler has looked threatening here," he added.
Harbhajan Singh's India XI for Ireland clash at T20 World Cup:
Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Shivam Dube, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Arshdeep Singh.