T20 World Cup 2024: File photo of Virat Kohli ans Rohit Sharma© AFP
Any warm-up match ahead of a big event often gives a fair bit of idea about what the final combination might look like. Going by that logic, the India vs Bangladesh T20 World Cup warm-up match gave a lot of hint about India’s playing XI going forward. The major talking point was who would partner Rohit Sharma as opener when the T20 World Cup action starts for the Indian cricket team on June 5 against Ireland. There were two choices – Yashasvi Jaiswal and Virat Kohli.
Virat Kohli did not play the match. Something, which India captain Rohit Sharma said was due to fatigue. “Virat has just arrived yesterday, he’s going to miss out,” he had said. However, Yashasvi Jaiswal was there. Interestingly, seven Indian batters got the taste of the conditions but designated opener Jaiswal did not.
Does that mean, he won’t be the first-choice opener in the upcoming matches?
Rohit did not answer the question directly, but did talk about the line-up of the side going forward.
“Quite happy with how things went. Pretty much got what we wanted from the game. Like I said at the toss, it was important to get used to the conditions. New venue, new ground, drop-in pitch – important to get used to it and we managed pretty well,” he said after India won the match by 60 runs.
Then he said something very crucial, regarding ‘nailing down’ the batting unit.
“(On Pant batting at No.3) Just to give him an opportunity. We have not really nailed down what the batting unit will look like. Even the bowlers did pretty well. All in happy, happy with how things went,” he said.
“(On Arshdeep) He has shown us, in whatever games he has played, he has the skills up-front. He has got a very good skill-set (at the death too). We saw it today. He bowled pretty well, swung the ball up front, and then bowled one at the back end. We have got 15 good players here. We have to see what the conditions are and then see what combination is best for us.”
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