Brad Hogg Chooses Rohit Sharma And Virat Kohli As Openers As He Picks India's Playing XI For The T20 World Cup

Former Australian leg-spinner Brad Hogg has picked Rohit Sharma and skipper Virat Kohli as his two Indian openers for the upcoming T20 World Cup.

Kohli and Rohit opened the innings together in the series-decider against England earlier this year and the move proved to be a masterstroke as the duo provided India with a blistering start.

Hogg reckoned that India needs attacking batters in their middle order and that can only happen if Virat Kohli is promoted to the opening slot.

“My Indian team going into the T20 World Cup would have Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma opening the batting. I might be a bit harsh on Shikhar Dhawan but they need some attacking players in the middle-order and so they need to push Kohli up the order.” said Brad Hogg in a video on his official Youtube channel.

Hogg picked the ever-so versatile Suryakumar Yadav for the No.3 spot followed by KL Rahul.

“I have Suryakumar Yadav, a youngster to international cricket, at No.3. I think his versatility is going to add a bit of spice to that batting line-up. KL Rahul is the prime runner for the No.4 spot,” Brad Hogg asserted.

The former left-arm leg-spinner picked the swashbuckling trio of Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya, and Ravindra Jadeja to do the finishing job at 5, 6, and 7 respectively.

“Coming in at No.5 is Rishabh Pant and I would keep him as a floater. If there is a wicket falling in the seventh over, I would send him up the order at dominate against spin. I would have Hardik Pandya at No.6 and Ravindra Jadeja at No.7.” he added.

Brad Hogg picks Team India’s bowling attack for the T20 World Cup

As far as the bowling unit is concerned, Brad Hogg reckoned that only one of Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav should be picked in the starting XI.

He added that the upcoming series against Sri Lanka will be crucial for both Chahal and Kuldeep to beef up their case to start in the playing XI for the T20 World Cup.

The former Australian cricketer went on to pick Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah and Shardul Thakur as the first-choice seamers for the marquee event.

“If Kuldeep Yadav does well in Sri Lanka, having a left-arm wrist-spinner could be a point of difference. But at the moment, Chahal is the number one spinner. Someone like a Thakur could get an opportunity due to his explosive batting and he is also good in the powerplay and at the death. Then you got Bhuvi and then Bumrah,” Brad Hogg signed off.

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Brad Hogg’s India Playing XI for the T20 World Cup-

Virat Kohli [C], Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant [WK], Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yuzvendra Chahal/Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah