Former Pakistan player Salman Butt says that Virat Kohli opening the batting for Team India in T20 World Cup depends upon how would he like to balance the side in the tournament.
Going into the T20 World Cup, Team India will have a major headache about who should open alongside Rohit Sharma in the tournament. Many feel KL Rahul is the best choice while some feel Shikhar Dhawan should open for India.
However, ever since skipper Virat Kohli promoted himself up in the batting order during the T20I series against England and then later opened in the now postponed IPL 2021, many feel that Virat Kohli is the best option who should open the innings in the T20 World Cup, scheduled to be played later this year.
Salman Butt reveals which team amongst India and New Zealand has the upper hand in WTC final
In a video posted on his YouTube channel, former Pakistani cricketer Salman Butt said that there’s the possibility that Virat Kohli might open alongside Rohit Sharma in the T20 World Cup because he has been opening for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the IPL.
He added that Team India can even go with either Shikhar Dhawan or KL Rahul.
“It depends and it's possible. They (Rohit and Kohli) are India’s best players and Rohit Sharma anyway opens. Virat Kohli has been opening for his franchise, Royal Challengers (Bangalore in the IPL).
“But I feel we haven’t seen the best of him while opening the batting in international cricket recently. Moreover, they (India) have a left-hand-right-hand combination set. Shikhar Dhawan used to play earlier and lately, we have seen KL Rahul opening the batting,” Salman Butt said in a video posted on his YouTube channel.
Butt said that Team India have a lot of options in Prithvi Shaw who have performed well in IPL. He remarked that it all depends on Virat Kohli what he wants and if he and Rohit Sharma open they’ll play a full quota of overs and every total will be small for them.
“They have a lot of options. You have Prithvi Shaw and other players who have performed in the IPL, so you have loads of options. So, it comes down to what Kohli chooses for himself.
“These two (Kohli and Rohit) are their top players and they'll get the full quota of overs. If they play long, then every total is small for them,” he said.
"In today's era, he's the no. 1 batsman," Mohammad Yousuf chooses between Virat Kohli and Babar Azam
Salman Butt further said that it all depends on skipper Virat Kohli on how he wants to balance his team.
“It comes down to how he (Kohli) wants to balance his team and at what stage should his best players come. It all depends on his thinking,” he concluded.
Virat Kohli will next be seen in action when Team India tour England for the ICC World Test Championship against New Zealand and then the five-Test series against England.
