Danish Kaneria Rohit Surya Virat KL
Danish Kaneria Rohit Surya Virat KL

Former Pakistan spinner Danish Kaneria has opined on India’s openers for the upcoming Asia Cup 2022. It is notable that like team India’s strategy of testing new players on the international stage after the ICC T20 World Cup 2021, the team management has also been experimental in formulating an opening pair for the team.

This has happened majorly because of KL Rahul’s unavailability from IPL 2022 till the recent Zimbabwe series. In the South Africa home series, Ishan Kishan and Ruturaj Gaikwad opened for India throughout. In Ireland, Deepak Hooda opened for a couple of games alongside Ishan Kishan.

In England, Rishabh Pant was made to open in the T20I series along with Rohit Sharma and in the Caribbean, Suryakumar Yadav opened alongside Rohit in the T20I series.

Rohit Sharma Suryakumar Yadav
Rohit Sharma Suryakumar Yadav. Image Credits: Twitter

Danish Kaneria Wants Suryakumar Yadav To Open For India In Asia Cup 2022

“I don’t think Virat will be made to open as no team wants to send a player as an opener who is going through a lean patch. You don’t want to expose the batting lineup by opening with Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli as they are the two greatest Indian batters right now. Even if one of them struggles, there will be pressure on the Indian middle order,” Danish Kaneria stated in an exclusive interview with Cricketaddictor.

Danish Kaneria
Danish Kaneria (Image Credit: Twitter)

“Hence, Rohit Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav should open for team India in Asia Cup 2022 and Virat Kohli should bat at number 3. The team management should speak to Virat and ask him about his batting position and this will help him gain confidence,” Danish further added.

'Suryakumar Yadav Should Open With Rohit Sharma In India vs Pakistan As You Don't Want To Expose Virat Kohli Or KL Rahul Early On'- Danish Kaneria Picks India's Openers For Asia Cup 2022

KL Rahul Returns To Opening Against Zimbabwe

KL Rahul, after a long hiatus, has returned to international cricket. However, his approach so far has been questionable. In the 3-match ODI series against Zimbabwe, KL Rahul was added to the squad at the very last moment and named the captain of the side.

In all the 3 games, Rahul won the toss and in the first couple of games, he did not take up the challenge of batting first despite playing against Zimbabwe, who is a relatively weaker side than India.

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KL Rahul, MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma
KL Rahul, MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma. (Photo: Twitter)

In the first ODI of the series, he didn’t even open the innings alongside Shikhar Dhawan, which raised a lot of eyebrows in the Indian cricketing fraternity. In the 2nd ODI, he fell cheaply scoring just one run in the 5 deliveries he faced. In the 3rd ODI of the series, Rahul finally elected to bat first after winning the toss and opened alongside Shikhar Dhawan. He managed to score only 30 runs in the 46 balls he faced in the 3rd ODI.

Priyam Singh is the Head of Content and Operations at Cricketaddictor. He Has Been Associated With Cricketaddictor Since The Last 4 Years And His Role Revolves Around Generation And Implementation Of Content...