As India prepare for their T20 World Cup opener against Ireland on Wednesday, former Australian opening batsman Matthew Hayden has voiced a strong opinion on India’s batting order. Hayden believes that Virat Kohli should open the innings for India, suggesting that Rohit Sharma would be more effective batting at number four in order to steer the middle order.
Kohli has an outstanding T20I record as both an opener and a number three; recently he won the Orange Cap in IPL 2024 due to which there are growing demands for him to open for India. However, there is speculation that India could go with the opening combination of Rohit and Yashasvi Jaiswal.
In a conversation with ESPNcricinfo, Hayden stressed the vital need of having left-right hand batting combination at top of the order so as to counter opposition leg-spinners with effectiveness.
“You’ve got to have a right-left combo. You cannot have five rights in a row. Zampa will just say ‘hi’ to Australia. You must open or you won’t play on my team,” Kohli’s form is red-hot . He can bat anywhere and we all know that. T20I cricket has seen him do well at No. 4 as well as taking charge after the powerplay period,” said Hayden.
Kohli’s performance in T20 world cups has been exceptional thus making him highest run getter in this tournament history with 1141 runs from 27 matches averaging 81.50
The debate about ideal batting line-up doesn’t seem to end as Team India gears up for its campaign ahead where fans and experts await desperately for some insight into anything that will shed light on their strategy towards winning T20 world cup glory.
