"It seems like the team have made up their mind that Virat Kohli will open with Rohit Sharma" - Aakash Chopra on Jaiswal not playing warm-up game
Aakash Chopra reckons India have decided to open with Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma in the 2024 T20 World Cup. The Men in Blue will start their campaign in the global event against Ireland in New York on Wednesday, June 5.
India defeated Bangladesh by 60 runs at the same venue on Saturday, June 1, in their only warm-up game before the global event. Neither Kohli nor Yashasvi Jaiswal was part of the playing combination, with Sanju Samson opening with the Indian skipper.
In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra opined that Kohli will partner Rohit at the top of the order at the start of the T20 World Cup.
"It seems like the team have made up their mind that Virat Kohli will open with Rohit Sharma. Yashasvi Jaiswal wasn't played in the warm-up game. In any case, Yashasvi hasn't taken such form from the IPL where you would say that he definitely deserves to play," he said (0:01).
The former India opener noted that Jaiswal's form was already a concern and the southpaw not playing in the preparatory game has virtually ruled him out.
So there was already a slight question mark on his name and now that he has not been played, it means that they have made up their mind that Yashasvi is not playing. A right-left combination is not going to be there," Chopra observed.
Jaiswal endured an indifferent run for the Rajasthan Royals (RR) in IPL 2024. He aggregated 435 runs at a slightly below-par average of 31.07 in 15 innings and wasn't at his fluent best.
"I am quite confident of that because the team wants something else" - Aakash Chopra on Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma opening
Aakash Chopra pointed out that Virat Kohli partnering Rohit Sharma at the top of the order will allow India to field both Shivam Dube and Hardik Pandya in the playing XI.
"You will see Rohit and Kohli opening on the 5th vs Ireland. I am quite confident of that because the team wants something else. If Yashasvi opens, Dube and Hardik cannot play together and there could be a slight problem that who would finish. So the first takeaway was Rohit and Kohli to open, which, in my opinion, is a good thing," he said (1:45).
The cricketer-turned-commentator also noted that the experienced duo might be the best bet to counter the moving ball in slightly seamer-friendly conditions.
"It seems like the new ball was moving decently here because a lot of grass is left at the start on drop-in pitches. So when you have Mark Adair and Joshua Little, their fast bowling is decent if the conditions are favorable to them, you will need slightly technically correct and compact batting at the start. So Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli might be opening," Chopra elaborated.
The New York pitch offered a lot of assistance to the seamers in Saturday's game. While Shoriful Islam troubled most Indian batters and dismissed Sanju Samson, Arshdeep Singh and Mohammed Siraj picked up three Bangladesh wickets in the first four overs.