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Rohit Sharma's blunt explanation of India opening with Suryakumar Yadav in WI T20I series amid criticisms
While the decision to open with Suryakumar Yadav has faced immense criticism from experts, Rohit Sharma gave a blunt explanation of the reason behind the ongoing experimentation.
India have used as many as seven openers in 2022 in the T20I format, including captain Rohit Sharma, with Ishan Kishan being the most common choice. In 13 appearances as opener for India, the youngster has scored 419 runs with three fifties. But despite Ishan's decent show to prove his worth as a back-up opener to Rohit and KL Rahul, India continued to experiment with the opening slot with Suryakumar Yadav being the latest option. And while the move has faced immense criticism from experts, Rohit gave a blunt explanation on the reason behind the ongoing experimentation.
_1659383488177_1659383494673_1659383494673.jpg "Rohit Sharma; Suryakumar Yadav")
Suryakumar, who has been more of a certainty as No.4 batter for India in T20Is, has never opened for India in any limited-overs game. But in the first two matches of the ongoing West Indies series, he walked in alongside Rohit at the start of the innings to open for India. He scored a 16-ball 24 in the first match and 11 off 5 in the second game on Monday.
While the move has garnered criticism from cricket experts, Rohit explained that he wants batters to be flexible in the line-up rather than sticking to a single position.
“We want the guys to be able to bat anywhere and don't want them to be batting in specific positions. We want the guys to be flexible, there are two ways to look at it depending on certain players," he said at toss on Tuesday.
Speaking to Fan Code during the first game, former India cricketer Mohammad Kaif had questioned the decision as the team had opted for Rishabh Pant as the opener in the England series that preceded it. He admitted that the move left him confused as Pant was offered only two opportunities as an opener.
“Whatever that was I did not understand it, at all. If you were trying Rishabh Pant as the opener for 2-3 matches then you should have gone with him today as well. Give him at least 5 chances. And this strategy of captain Rohit Sharma and coach Rahul Dravid, they back the players at least 5-6 matches. But this did not happen with Pant," he had said.
