The ongoing IPL is nearing its conclusion with the league stage games completing and the playoff rounds about to start in a few days. Amidst the progress of the tournament, Australian cricket legend, Matthew Hayden has recently revealed his take on what the best possible opening order for India could be for the upcoming T20 World Cup.
The ICC T20 World Cup is set to kick-off in June with the United States and the West Indies set to host the prestigious tournament. India recently released their squad with Rohit Sharma captaining the side and batters like Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli and Suryakumar Yadav as part of the travelling squad.
The opening line-up for the team though has still been up for speculation and Hayden has come forward with his opinions on how the inaugural champions of the tournament could go forward with their batting.
‘The left-right combination shouldn’t be disturbed’ – Hayden.
Sharing his thoughts, Hayden stated that he wouldn’t want Rohit and Virat opening for the team as the left and right combination at the top would be essential to disturb the line and length of the opposition bowlers.
When asked about Rohit and Virat opening, Hayden stated “No they shouldn’t do that. The reason why I say that is because you definitely need a left-right combination at the top. So I would definitely go with Jaiswal and Rohit”
However, Hayden also suggested that coach Rahul Dravid could shuffle the line-ups a bit and allow Virat to open along with Jaiswal and the skipper taking up the no. 4 spot after Mumbai Indians (MI) companion, Suryakumar Yadav.
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“If you have to make a change in that combination, I would be very happy…if you would tell me if I could open with Kohli and Jaiswal, I would have said absolutely yes. Then I would slot Suryakumar Yadav at 3 and Rohit at No.4. And that top four, in my opinion, is the right combination.”
Virat has been in top form in the IPL this season, and is the current leading scorer of the tournament, with 634 runs and an average of over 70. He is also the all-time top-scorer in the T20 World Cups and his form would be of great importance for the team going forward in the tournament.
| Matches | Runs | Average | SR | HS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12 | 634 | 70.44 | 153.51 | 113* |
Virat has scored 1141 at the T20 World Cups and has by far been the best former for the Indian team in the tournament.
| Matches | Runs | Average | SR | HS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 27 | 1141 | 81.50 | 131.30 | 89* |
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India’s squad for the T20 World Cup
India’s fifteen-man squad was released by the BCCI with Rohit Sharma as the captain and all-rounder Hardik Pandya named as the vice-captain for the tournament. Here’s the complete squad for the men in the blue:
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Rohit Sharma (Captain), Hardik Pandya (Vice Captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (WK), Sanju Samson (WK), Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd. Siraj.
Apart from the fifteen-man squad, Shubhman Gill, Rinku Singh, Avesh Khan and Khaleel Ahmed have been announced as the reserves.