Former India wicketkeeper Parthiv Patel believes premier batter Rahul will open the inning with Rohit at the ICC World T20 2022. If Kishan is out of rhythm, he may not be the best option to partner with Rohit Sharma at the top. That being the case, KL Rahul would be the best choice for India, as per Parthiv.
Patel has said that the Karnataka cricketer is a long-term opening option according to him whereas, Kishan allows Rohit to take a bit of time when he is in the right mind space. “KL Rahul is a long-term opening option for me. When Rahul returns to the team, I think he will open the innings with Rohit. Personally, I feel he will open with Rohit in the T20 World Cup,” Parthiv told Cricbuzz.
“Ishan Kishan is not a bad option when he is in rhythm. When he is in the right mind space, he allows Rohit to take a bit of time. But I think it will be Rahul and Rohit at the World Cup”, Parthiv added.
“Ishan Kishan was trying to hit the ball too hard instead of timing it. When he was playing cross-batted strokes, he was using the bottom hand so much that the face of the bat was closing. Instead, he could have shown some patience and played a few shots with a straight bat. But it just did not happen for him on the day,” Parthiv added.
Former Indian pacer Ashish Nehra also picked Rahul as Rohit’s opener partner for the ICC World T20. “For me, this has been the No. 1 opening pair for quite some time. Of course, when it comes to options, India have innumerable ones and it is up to them which one to pick. Ruturaj Gaikwad, Devdutt Padikkal, Shubman Gill, Prithvi Shaw, Shikhar Dhawan, Venkatesh Iyer, Ishan Kishan – all are openers. But for me, in T20Is, Rohit and KL Rahul are the best options as openers for the T20 World Cup,” Nehra added.