During the meeting of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) selection committee chaired by Ajit Agarkar with Indian cricket captain Rohit Sharma, several former Indian cricketers and critics suggested including their list of players in the squad for the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup 2024.
Apart from which player will fly with the Indian team to the West Indies in June, the main debate is gaining momentum and who will play against India – Virat Kohli or Yashasvi Jaiswal?
Days after the announcement that the Indian cricket team was playing with a playing eleven, former Indian opener Virendra Sehwag suggested on April 28 that Kohli should continue to bat at No. 3. He also gave the example of Indian batting great Sachin Tendulkar who was reluctant to sacrifice his opening slot but gave his all in ODIs.
READ ALSO: Virender Sehwag drops Hardik Pandya from his Indian T20 World Cup squad list. He says, “It should be…”
“If I was on this team, I wouldn’t send him to the open. I will play him at No. 3. Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal will start the game and Kohli will continue to bat from No. 3. The approach of the center fielder gives him a headache, he knows that if he is dismissed early, he may switch to power play. If the wicket falls behind schedule, it is the responsibility of the captain and coach to tell him to keep the momentum going. The player has to do it,” Sehwag said cricbuzz.
He added: “Sachin Tendulkar also left his opening role to bat at number 4 and in that role he took over the momentum. He took fourth place in the 2007 World Cup. Even he didn’t like to bat in the middle, but he had to do it for the team. If your team has two good openers and you are asked to bat at 3, you have to do so. You have to maintain the momentum that the openers set. I don’t think Virat Kohli will be too concerned about it.”
On April 24, Sehwag announced that he would play for India ahead of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup. He defeated all-rounder Hardik Pandya, KL Rahul and Ravichandran Ashwin. However, he included Rishabh Pant, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Sandeep Sharma in his list.
When asked to name his India starting eleven on the ‘Club Prairie Fire’ podcast, Sehwag said: ‘Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Rinku Singh or Shivam Dube – one of the two, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Sandeep Sharma, Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja.”
Although he did not reveal why he did not see Hardik Pandya in the playing eleven, he mentioned that the probability of him playing in the final fifteen was high. “He [Hardik] he should be in the 15th, but if you are asking about playing in the XI, right?” – added.
India will face Ireland in the first match of the T20 World Cup on June 5.
Kohli in IPL 2024:
Kohli played 10 matches for RCB in IPL 2024 and scored 500 runs at an average of 71.43 and a strike rate of 147.49. His highest score in the tournament was an unbeaten 113 and he also hit 46 boundaries and 20 sixes.
Posted: April 28, 2024 10:30 PM ET
