T20 World Cup 2024: Parthiv Patel's no-nonsense verdict on Rohit Sharma's opening partner between Virat Kohli and Yashasvi Jaiswal

Former India wicket-keeper batsman Parthiv Patel wants to see Virat Kohli pair up with captain Rohit Sharma and open for India at the ICC T20 World Cup 2024.

The subject of India's opening pair at the T20 World Cup is something that has divided opinions within in the Indian cricketing fraternity. Some want to see the left-hand, and right-hand combination of Yashasvi Jaiswal and Rohit Sharma. Others have expressed their wish to see Virat Kohli, after an individually successful IPL 2024 campaign, open with the Indian captain.

As a full-time opening batter for the RCB, Virat Kohli has found plenty of success across the IPL 2023 and 2024. In both editions, Kohli has been able to score more than 600 runs.

Last season he had amassed a total of 639 runs from 14 matches, this season he tops the Orange Cap chart with 741 runs from 15 outings at an improved strike rate of 154.70.

Parthiv Patel feels Virat Kohli-Rohit Sharma up top will be a tournament-winning combination

Parthiv Patel, who has played a few IPL seasons with RCB, feels that Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma's pairing up top could be a massive game-changer. Due to the kind of form, he displayed this season while opening with Faf du Plessis for Bengaluru, Kohli should appear as an opening batsman.

This combination could prove to be a tournament-winning combination and one that can bring the glory days back in India, according to Parthiv Patel.

"With the form that Virat Kohli is in, I want him to open the batting with Rohit Sharma in the T20 World Cup and bring the glory home ending the drought of the last 17 years." - Parthiv Patel said in a press conference.

In the last two ICC white-ball events - the T20 World Cup 2022 and the 50-over WC in 2023, Virat Kohli was the top-scorer of the tournaments. But despite scoring a large share of team India's runs, Kohli hasn't been able to help the Men in Blue win those major competitions.

During semi-finals and finals, Kohli doesn't seem to have the mindset to play big knocks that can help the team put pressure on the opposition. During the T20 WC 2022 semi-final, Kohli had scored a half-century but it had zero impact whatsoever. In the 2023 CWC final when he had to lead from the front, the 35-year-old got out for a score of 54 which didn't prove to be enough.

Therefore, if he does open for India with Rohit Sharma at the T20 WC, then Virat Kohli's performance and runs might be maximized. Who knows it can also unlock a new version of himself as well.

Kohli to join the first Indian batch to leave for the USA

Following Bengaluru's exit from IPL 2024 two days ago, Virat Kohli is expected to join the first batch of the Indian team that will fly over to New York. The first entourage is expected to take the flight to the USA on May 25th while the remaining batch of players who are on duty with their IPL teams, will be leaving the country after May 26th.