"India is going to be 100 without loss"- Brian Lara backs opening pair of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma to deliver vs Bangladesh in 2024 T20 World Cup
Former West Indian batter Brian Lara backed the struggling opening pair of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma to come good in the 2024 T20 World Cup Super Eight encounter against Bangladesh in Antigua on June 22. Apart from Rohit's half-century in Team India's tournament opener against Ireland, the duo have been sub-par in their batting stints.
Kohli and Rohit's opening partnerships have been 22, 12, 1, and 11 in the four matches at a woeful average of 11.50. It has led to several discussions among fans and experts on Kohli possibly moving to his customary No.3 position in the batting order.
However, Lara brushed aside any such concerns and predicated the duo putting on a 100-run partnership for the opening wicket against Bangladesh in a conversation with Star Sports.
"India is going to be 100 without loss in that match if they bat first, right? And even if they bat second, they are going to be 100 without loss. Of course, Fizz is an amazing bowler. He is going to come out and threaten but I just feel that India is just too much and that roller coaster and, you know, they just seem rolling every team at the moment and that's how I think it's going to happen," said Lara.
He added:
"India is very concerned about the opening partnership, and they're going to fix that against Bangladesh. I don't think that Bangladesh is going to be a threat."
While Rohit averages 25.33 at a strike rate of 111.76, Kohli has been much worse with an average of 7.25 and a strike rate of 87.87 thus far in the World Cup.
"Those two great players, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma are going to come to the fore" - Brian Lara
Brian Lara further praised Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma as two of the best T20 players in the world, while backing them to be among the runs in the Bangladesh clash.
The duo did not feature in India's T20I side after the 2022 World Cup before returning for the Afghanistan home series earlier this year.
"I think it's going to give India that impetus that is needed going into the back end of the tournament of the semi-finals and the finals. So, this match, I think that those two great players, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma are going to come to the fore," said Lara.
He concluded:
"I think the Indian team expects a good opening partnership. Everything is falling into place. This World Cup is a World Cup where no team is very dominant because of the state of the pitches. But if India can solve the opening problem, and it's not a problem, it's the two best T20 players in the world, they are not going to run right now."
Despite the duo's struggles, the Men in Blue have marched through the tournament unbeaten, winning all four games.
They kickstarted their Super Eight phase with a dominant 47-run win over Afghanistan and will look to make it two in two against Bangladesh.