T20 World Cup 2021: “Virat Kohli Might Open And KL Rahul Could Bat At No. 4” - Sunil Gavaskar

India batting legend Sunil Gavaskar opined that Virat Kohli might open for the Indian team in the upcoming T20 World Cup 2021 while KL Rahul takes a role in the middle order to shepherd other batters.

The BCCI recently announced the Indian team for the ICC event which features Virat Kohli as the captain of the team, while KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma, and Ishan Kishan have been picked as openers. The T20 World Cup, which will be held in the UAE and Oman from October 17 to November 14.

However, Gavaskar felt that Virat Kohli might open the innings with Rohit Sharma, as he had done in the home series against England, and during the same series, he had expressed his intentions of doing the same at the ICC T20 World Cup as well.

Opening the innings, Kohli smashed an unbeaten 80 off 52 balls against England in the fifth T20I of the series in March this year. Following that, he also opened for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the first half of IPL 2021.

“We had seen earlier this year, when England had visited India, Kohli had opened the batting. So, there is a chance that Kohli might open and KL Rahul could bat at No. 4 or 5,” the former India captain told Aaj Tak.

Sunil Gavaskar Names His Middle-Order Picks Apart From KL Rahul

The Indian batting legend Gavaskar named India’s T20 World Cup 2021 batting lineup as adventurous and strong. Apart from KL Rahul, Gavaskar named the versatile Suryakumar Yadav and Hardik Pandya as his choices in the middle order.

“If Suryakumar Yadav settles into the No. 3 spot and does well, I see Rahul coming in at No. 4 to take advantage of the last few overs of the innings. They will be followed by Hardik Pandya and Rishabh Pant at 5 and 6, according to me. The Indian batting order for the T20 World Cup seems rather strong and adventurous,” he added.

India also have the luxury of playing Ishan Kishan in the middle order to break the monotony of the right-handed batting lineup. While Kishan and Suryakumar are in very good form, India will hope for Hardik Pandya to regain his form in the IPL 2021 ahead of the mega ICC event.

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