T20 World Cup 2021 | Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul is the right opening combination for India, reckons Michael Atherton

10/29/2021

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Former England captain Michael Atherton reckons that Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul are the right opening combination for India at the T20 World Cup 2021. Rohit and Rahul fell to Shaheen Afridi early during the team's first match against Pakistan in Dubai on Sunday, in which they went down by 10 wickets.

India tried two different combinations during their warm-up matches against England and Australia in build up to the T20 World Cup 2021 Super 12s round. Ishan Kishan and KL Rahul opened against England, while Rohit Sharma partnered Rahul against Australia. Rahul scored 51 off 24 against England, while Kishan was retired out after a 46-ball 70. Against Australia, Rohit scored a 41-ball 60 before retiring himself, after Rahul was dismissed for a 31-ball 39.

The Virat Kohli-led team unsurprisingly opted for an experienced combination Rohit and Rahul against Pakistan on Sunday, October 24. Left-arm pacer Shaheen Afridi dismissed both early, to set the tone for Pakistan's historic first ever World Cup win over their sub-continent rivals.

While a one-off failure at the top did raise some questions over the opening pair, one which sparked an animated response from Kohli at the post match conference, Michael Atherton believed that the pair is the ideal combination for India in the tournament.

"It was interesting to me. In India's warm-up game against England, they rested Rohit. He obviously is a given. And they had Ishan Kishan and KL Rahul at the top of the order. I don't know whether it was a shoot off or not. Ishan outscored KL Rahul but what was interesting was that KL was faster out of the blocks in the Powerplay in that game. Ishan Kishan eventually got going and caught up," Atherton said on Sky Cricket.

"But if you think of how Rohit plays he sometimes takes a few balls to get going. I think they are doing the good thing by going with KL and Rohit at the top of the order. I think that is the right thing. And you can’t write off India after one bad game."

India will take on New Zealand at the Dubai International Stadium on Sunday, October 31.