Virat Kohli hints at opening for India against England

01/25/2017

Virat Kohli has claimed that he could open for the Men in Blue in the upcoming T20 series against England if the situation demands that he do so. Kohli also praised Amit Mishra and Parvez Rasool who have been called up for the series stating that the duo have been "pretty smart with their bowling."

India have not played a T20 series since August last year when they were beaten 1-0 by the West Indies after the second match was washed out. This will be the first time that Kohli will lead the team out since taking over as the captain in all formats of the game.

India will be without their first-choice opener Rohit Sharma for the series due to injury. However, the Indian captain said that if need be he was ready to open the innings for the national team after having a successful season in the Indian Premier League (IPL) for the Royal Challengers Bangalore. During 2016 IPL, Kohli opened for his team in every game bar one and finished the league as the orange cap winner scoring an incredible 973 runs.

"There are all kinds of possibilities. In the IPL, you don't have many Indian batsmen to choose from because they are spread across the franchisees. Here (in international cricket) you have a lot of options as far as Indian batsmen are concerned," Kohli said during the pre-match press conference, reported PTI.

"We have a lot of options (in batting line-up), which is a very good thing. If need be I can open, it all depends on the balance of the side. I have only opened in one T20 International, maybe two but I have experience of opening in the IPL. If need be, I could or I might not. It all depends on the balance of the side."

India have had a highly successful period of cricket beating New Zealand and then England in the Tests and ODIs in consecutive series. Kohli said that he expected his team to continue the winning run in the T20 series as well.

"We would definitely like to extend our run from Test and ODIs to T20s. We want to play more special cricket, play more positive than what we have in the past, not worry about the result too much. In this format we need to go out and show our true potential," he added.

The selectors decided to hand a much-deserved rest to spinning duo Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja for the T20 series after the duo bowled almost 60% of the overs during the Tests against New Zealand and England. They instead opted to pick Amit Mishra and Parvez Rasool as their replacements, and Kohli said that he was pleased by the selections made by the committee.

“These are two (Mishra and Rasool) who have been pretty smart with their bowling, they can build up pressure by bowling dot balls, that can actually get you wickets. This is a breakthrough series for both of them and might be the perfect opportunity for them to seal their spots as the T20 specialists the Indian cricket side will have in the future.” Kohli said.

“This series is a series of opportunities for a lot of guys to either get back in the groove or seal their spots in the side. The reason why everyone is included in the squad is because we have faith in them. It’s up to the individual after that to see how eager he is."

When asked if the pace of Tymal Mills, who bowls at a consistent pace of over 90 miles an hour, would be a concern for him, he replied, "It doesn’t bother me, I have played bowlers who bowl at over 90 miles an hour in the past as well."

India will play the first T20 against England tomorrow in Kanpur.

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