India's T20 World Cup Squad: Kohli or Jaiswal? Pathan and other ex-cricketers pick who should open for Men in Blue

The Ajit Agarkar-led BCCI senior men’s selection panel is set to announce India’s squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup any day now with the 1 May deadline set by the ICC just around the corner.

Team India haven’t won an ICC event for more than a decade now and will hope to end that drought in June in the United States and the Caribbean after coming so close in the ODI World Cup last year. For that to happen though, they’ll be hoping to get their combination right and assemble a team that not only knows how to dominate the group stages but can also succeed in the crunch games.

One of the biggest talking points with regards to India’s squad for the T20 World Cup is batting superstar Virat Kohli. While the former India captain walks not just into the squad but also into the XI along with skipper Rohit Sharma, vice-captain Suryakumar Yadav and pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah, both experts and fans continue to debate over his ideal batting position in the side.

Former India opener Kris Srikkanth is among those who would like to see batting stalwarts Rohit and Kohli open the innings in the World Cup that will be jointly hosted by West Indies and USA and will begin just days after the conclusion of the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL).

“Yashasvi was a very good contender in my team, but as of now, it’s going to be Virat Kohli. To make things short and crisp, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma will open the innings for me in the T20 World Cup. I’ll have to look at the balance, who’s going to come in at number three, who’s going to come in at number four, what impact do you want to create, taking all those things into account,” Srikkanth told reporters on the Star Sports Press Room, which also had former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan and ex-Australian cricketers Matthew Hayden and Tom Moody as its panellists.

“IPL is not the basis of selection for me for the T20 World Cup. IPL is a pointer. A World Cup is a World Cup, a mega tournament. You have to look at the international capabilities of individuals, how capable they will be at the international level, whether they can counter and win matches at the international level, number one. And number two, what kind of track record do they have in T20 internationals in the past, I think you’ll have to take everything into account,” Srikkanth added.

While Kohli has been a regular opener in the IPL, he isn’t accustomed to batting at that position at the international level, where his preferred position has been No 3 in the white-ball formats and No 4 in Tests. Kohli and Rohit had additionally skipped T20Is after India’s semi-final exit in the 2022 T20 World Cup in Australia, with the two returning to the format only recently in the T20I series against Afghanistan in January.

Therefore, there are just as many experts and fans backing Yashasvi Jaiswal for the opener’s slot given his track record as a specialist opener, both at the international level across formats as well as in the IPL, in which he recently bounced back to form with an unbeaten 104 against Mumbai Indians in Jaipur.

Former India all-rounder Pathan backed Jaiswal not only for giving India a strategic left-right opening combination but also for the fact that he bowls wrist spin.

“As far as I’m concerned, India’s openers should be Yashasvi Jaiswal and Rohit Sharma, purely because of the right-left combination. Don’t forget Yashasvi Jaiswal’s international strike rate is 160, and you need that. You need that firepower,” Pathan said.

“The other thing, if Yashasvi Jaiswal is playing, what can happen is he’s bowling regularly in the nets. You can actually play proper five bowlers and have him as a sixth bowling option. Otherwise if you look at the batting order, no one bowls in the top six, and that’s the biggest challenge that we have in Indian cricket and we need to consider that as well. So for me, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rohit Sharma and then Virat bats at No 3,” the former Baroda cricketer added.

Former Australian all-rounder Moody echoed Pathan’s views.

“You’ve got to have a left-right hand combination because you will find yourself in a situation, particularly if the surface does offer a little bit of turn or if they’re slow, every team will line-up with a left-arm spinner to open the bowling. It’s an absolute no-brainer and it’s a proven way to slow things down if not take an early wicket.

“So you don’t want to set yourself up even before the coin toss where you’ve shown the opposition a potential weakness. So definitely go with Rohit and Jaiswal at the top of the order,” Moody said.

The former Sunrisers Hyderabad coach, however, added that Kohli’s experience as well as his success in a variety of conditions around the world would make him a better candidate compared to the relatively inexperienced Jaiswal, especially considering most of India’s group games will take place in New York City where the conditions remain unknown.

“Four of the games are going to be in New York. We don’t know, we’re guessing what the conditions are going to be like. I would rather have an old head, an experienced campaigner to navigate what may or may not be out there in the middle against that youthful, brash approach to take on a situation when the surface and the conditions don’t allow you to do that,” Moody added.

Though he voiced his support for Jaiswal, Pathan did note the fact that Kohli’s inclusion in the XI as an opener could free up slots in the middle order that could allow captain Rohit and head coach Rahul Dravid to pick both Shivam Dube and Rinku Singh, designated finishers whose presence would greatly boost India’s batting firepower in the middle.

“If Virat opens up the batting, what happens is that it will allow the combination of 11 to be in a certain way, which you want. If that happens, you might see Shivam Dube playing, if he’s there in the squad.

“You might see guys like Rinku Singh in the playing 11 as well. But if Virat bats at number three, that might not happen. So that’s a big challenge,” Pathan, a seamer who had batted at the top of the order during Greg Chappell’s reign as India coach, added.

Moody backs Rohit the leader

There has also been plenty of drama with regard to captaincy between Rohit and all-rounder Hardik Pandya. While Pandya replaced Rohit as Mumbai Indians captain following his high-profile trade from Gujarat Titans, where he had led the franchise for two seasons, Rohit returned to the T20I setup as captain and had been announced as the skipper for the T20 World Cup despite Pandya having led the Men in Blue in late 2022, after the T20 World Cup, as well as the better part of 2023.

When asked if Rohit was the right man to lead India in the shortest format given his year-long absence from it, all panelists agreed unanimously, with Moody going so far as to say that while succession is bound to happen, it shouldn’t be taking place anytime soon.

“It’s an absolutely key question. Because without a good leader in the World Cup, you’re finished. And Rohit Sharma is the genuine and authentic article right now. There will be a shift, but it will not be now. That’s the first question anybody should answer who is our captain?” Moody added.

India have been placed in Group A with arch-rivals Pakistan as well as Ireland, Canada and co-hosts USA. The Men in Blue begin their campaign against Ireland on 5 June and take on Pakistan four days later, followed by the Americans on the 12th. Each of these three games will be taking place in New York.

The Indian team then travels to Miami for their final group fixture against Canada on 15 June.