VVS Laxman Chooses Between KL Rahul And Shikhar Dhawan To Open With Rohit Sharma For England T20I Series

VVS Laxman made his pick as the opener to partner Rohit Sharma in the upcoming five-match T20I series between India and England. India named a comprehensive squad for the T20I series which will be played at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Motera, Ahmedabad.

It included many of the IPL 2020 and Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 performers like Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Rahul Tewatia, and Varun Chakravarthy. It also sees the return of Hardik Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, and Axar Patel in the T20I scheme of things. India has rested Jasprit Bumrah from the 20-over matches against England.

I Will Still Go With KL Rahul: VVS Laxman

Former India batsman VVS Laxman, in an episode of Star Sports show Cricket Connected, was asked if Shikhar Dhawan regaining his form in the Vijay Hazare Trophy will put KL Rahul’s spot in the playing XI at stake. Rohit Sharma returns to the T20I squad as well after missing the Australia series.

He was also asked to make his pick between KL Rahul and Shikhar Dhawan to partner Rohit Sharma at the top in the five-match series.

“It is going to be a tough question as far as the selection of the second opener is concerned, there is no doubt about that because Rohit Sharma is an automatic choice in white-ball cricket. But I will still go with KL Rahul because over the last few months and years, I think the Indian team management went with KL Rahul as an opening batsman and he has done really well in that position,” said Laxman.

Shikhar Dhawan Had A Fantastic IPL And Batted Well For Delhi As Well: VVS Laxman

Shikhar Dhawan had a terrific outing in IPL 2020 for Delhi Capitals, becoming the first batsman to score two back-to-back centuries in one edition of the IPL tournament. Laxman admitted that Shikhar Dhawan was in terrific form in the IPL and performed decently in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, but he will still back KL Rahul.

“Yeah, Shikhar Dhawan had a fantastic IPL and the way he batted at the top of the order, scoring centuries for the Delhi Capitals and then he is in tremendous form for Delhi, scored a big hundred in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. But I still will repose faith in KL Rahul because as an opening combination you want someone who is settled,” said Laxman.

KL Rahul has scored 1542 runs in the 45 T20Is he has played at an excellent average of 44.05 along with an impressive strike rate of 144.92.

However, Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma have the most runs (1743) as a pair in T20I history. But the KL Rahul-Rohit Sharma partnership has been more consistent, with their 1019 runs together coming at an outstanding average of 59.94.

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