'Things have changed after the IPL': Kohli names India's opening pair for T20 World Cup, reveals where he will bat

At the toss of India's first warm-up game against England in Dubai, captain Virat Kohli revealed that there has been a change in plans given what transpired in the IPL 2021.

What will India's top order look like is one of the biggest questions heading into the T20 World Cup. Rohit Sharma was the only certainty at the top, with the major toss up being between captain Virat Kohli and KL Rahul. With no Shikhar Dhawan in the squad, the general consensus was that it would be Kohli partnering Rohit as his opening partner and Rahul at No. 3.

India captain Virat Kohli.  (Getty)

However, at the toss of India's first warm-up game against England in Dubai, Kohli revealed that there has been a change in plans given what transpired in the IPL 2021.

"Things were different before IPL, now it's difficult to look beyond KL Rahul at the top of the order. Rohit is a no-brainer. World-class player, he's been solid up front. I will be batting at 3. That's the only news I can give to start off," said the India captain.

Kohli opened with Rohit during the home series between India and England back in March, but one can't argue with Kohli, given the fact that Rahul amassed a whopping 626 runs in the IPL for Punjab Kings and ended the tournament as the third-highest run-scorer. Kohli further informed that he is more or less sorted in terms of the Playing XI for the tournament.

"It's about adapting quickly to this team now, who plays where is what matters. We are pretty sorted in terms of how we are going to start in the first game. Outside of that we just want to give opportunity to guys in these games as much as possible. We will look to give game-time to most of them," he added.

India won the toss and opted to field against England in their first warm-up match on Monday. England captain Eoin Morgan has been rested and Jos Buttler is leading the team in his absence.