The Indian captain might drop himself himself down the batting order.
With Shikhar Dhawan returning to form in the recent T20I series against Sri Lanka, the Indian team management was supposed to have the headache of picking from three in-form openers – Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul being the other two – in the ODI series against Australia, starting January 14 in Mumbai.
But with Rohit being an automatic choice in the 50-over format, India skipper Virat Kohli has hinted at accommodating both Dhawan and Rahul in the playing XI by dropping himself down the batting order.
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"Look, a guy in form is always good for the team. You obviously want to have the best players available and then chose what the combination should be for the team. There might be a possibility that all three (Rohit, Shikhar and Rahul) might play. It will be interesting to see what balance we want to take in on the field," Kohli told reporters on the eve of the first ODI.
Asked if he would be happy to bat lower down the order, the Indian captain added: "Yeah, big possibility. I would be very happy to do so. Look I am not possessive about where I play. I am not insecure about where I bat."
For Virat, making an impactful lot of players is more important than chasing personal glory.
"Being the captain of the team, it is my job to make sure that the next lot is also ready. A lot of the other people might not look at it that way, but your job as a captain is not only to look after the team right now but also to prepare a team that you leave behind when you eventually pass it onto someone else," he said.
(With PTI inputs)