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Former India and England cricketers react to Virat Kohli opening the batting in 5th T20I
Former India cricketer Parthiv Patel and former England spinner Graeme Swann reacted after India captain Virat Kohli at the toss – which England won and opted to field first - on Saturday announced that he will open the batting in the 5th T20I with Rohit Sharma.
India’s decision to open with Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma in the series-deciding fifth and final T20I against England at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad was welcomed by former India wicketkeeper Parthiv Patel and former England off-spinner Graeme Swann.
India captain Virat Kohli at the toss – which England won and opted to field first - on Saturday announced that he will open the batting for India in the 5th T20I with Rohit Sharma.
KL Rahul was dropped as India decided to play an extra bowler in left-arm seamer T Natarajan.
India vs England 5th T20I live score
“Your best two players should play as many deliveries as possible and they are India’s best players. And Virat loves pace initially. I love this move especially that they have done it in a crunch game,” said Parthiv Patel on Star Sports.
Swann too agreed Parthiv and said both Kohli and Rohit are India’s best players and could do more damage at the top of the order.
“I agree Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma are India’s best players and they very good against pace. So yeah, one over of Rashid early on is what I’m hoping for,” Swann said.
Also Read | Virat Kohli explains reasons for dropping KL Rahul in 5th T20I against England
Speaking about India’s team combination – they have gone with six bowling options for the first time after the opening match of the series, Parthiv said this should be the way forward for India. He added that playing six bowlers gives you more attacking options.
“I’m not surprised at all. I feel when you play an extra batsman it’s a slightly a negative approach. When you go with an extra bowler that means you’re trying to get the opposition out and restrict them early. I think this is something, India should go look to do going forward obviously depending on the wicket they play on,” Parthiv said.
England, on the other hand, went in with an unchanged side. The series is currently locked at 2-2.
India Playing XI: Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli(c), Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant(w), Shreyas Iyer, Hardik Pandya, Shardul Thakur, Washington Sundar, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Rahul Chahar and T Natarajan.
England Playing XI: Jason Roy, Jos Buttler(w), Dawid Malan, Jonny Bairstow, Eoin Morgan(c), Ben Stokes, Sam Curran, Chris Jordan, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid and Mark Wood.
