ENG vs IND: You Don't Want Virat Kohli Batting At No.3 In The Middle Overs - Graeme Swann
Former England spinner Graeme Swann reckons that India should stick with Deepak Hooda and Suryakumar Yadav at No. 3 and No. 4 while trying to bring in Virat Kohli at the top alongside Rohit Sharma.
Ishan Kishan is the current opener but he has been poor in recent times and might end up making way for Kohli, who will be available for the final two T20Is against England.
“As I see it here, I see it fairly obviously, if Virat Kohli comes in, he opens the batting instead of Kishan. That’s what I would do but I have got nothing to do with the Indian selections.”
“When you have got a player as good as Virat, you don’t want him batting No. 3 in the middle overs because he is not going to score as quickly as SKY (Suryakumar Yadav) or Hooda when they first come in, that’s not his game,” Swann told Sony Sports.
“Imagine Kohli and Sharma scoring heavily at the top” – Graeme Swann
Swann feels that Kohli can feed off Rohit’s energy at the top and the two can make the most of the powerplay, which has been a point of weakness for the Indian team in the shortest format of the game.
“If Rohit is batting so well at the other end and scoring quickly, Virat will follow and do the same thing. Imagine Kohli and Sharma scoring heavily at the top, then Hooda and SKY coming in,” he also added.
India defeated England comfortably in the first T20I with the batters putting on a show before the bowlers backed them up. The second T20I takes place on Saturday.
