With Rohit and Kohli as openers, Uthappa gives Suryakumar No.3 spot by showing exit door to Jaiswal in his India XI

With Rohit and Kohli as openers, Uthappa gives Suryakumar No.3 spot by showing exit door to Jaiswal in his India XI

3 months ago | 36 Views

Following India's impressive showing against Bangladesh in the one-off warm-up game, Indian skipper Rohit Sharma made an honest admission. The veteran Indian opener admitted that the Rahul Dravid-coached side has not nailed down their batting unit for the ICC T20 World Cup co-hosted by the United States and the West Indies. Rohit opened the innings with power-hitter Sanju Samson in the warm match against Bangladesh.

Headlining India's comfortable win against the Asian giantkillers, wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant top-scored for the Men In Blue at New York. India opted to rest Virat Kohli for the practice game as Pant was promoted to bat at No.3 position for the Bangladesh encounter. While Pant smashed 53 off 32 balls, Samson perished for one off six balls. Opener Yashasvi Jaiswal was overlooked for the warm-up game before India's World Cup opener against Ireland.

In conversation with veteran all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin on his YouTube channel, former India batter Robin Uthappa opined that the Men In Blue should promote Suryakumar Yadav at the T20 World Cup. The former Rajasthan Royals (RR) batter feels Suryakumar should bat at the No.3 position. Uthappa also backed the idea of Kohli opening the innings with skipper Rohit. The ex-Indian cricketer also asserted that India doesn't need a left-hander at the top.

“I feel No. 4 is too low for SKY. I think SKY should get as many balls as possible. So, my top three would be Rohit, Virat and SKY. I think we are headed Rohit and Virat. I don’t think we’ll need a left-hander at the top simply because one has the experience, the class, the quality, the ability, potential of what these guys can do together when they come together and play to their potential is tremendous. And, the fact that we’ve enough depth in the batting lineup," Uthappa told Ashwin.

Run machine Kohli has joined the Indian camp after a run-fest season in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024. Former India skipper Kohli bagged the prestigious Orange Cap by smashing 741 runs in 15 games. Opener Jaiswal finished the same tournament with 435 runs in 16 games. Team India is expected to sacrifice Jaiswal to make sure Kohli and Rohit feature at the top against Ireland in their World Cup opener on Wednesday. Former champions India will play their curtain-raiser at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium.

Read Also: novak djokovic pulls out of french open 2024 due to knee injury, jannik sinner crowned new world no.1