“He has the capacity to do that”: Mahela Jayawardene picks Rohit Sharma’s opening partner for Asia Cup 2022

Former Sri Lanka batter Mahela Jayawardene has picked his preferred choice to open with Rohit Sharma in Asia Cup 2022.

Asia Cup 2022 is set to start from 27 August 2022, and India will be playing their first match against Pakistan on 28th August 2022 at the Dubai International Stadium in Dubai.

India have announced their 15-men squad for the event where KL Rahul has made his return, but Jasprit Bumrah missed out due to a back injury. Shreyas Iyer and Sanju Samson lost their place, meanwhile, Deepak Hooda has been retained. In a surprise, India picked just three seamers in the squad in Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Avesh Khan and Arshdeep Singh.

Mahela Jayawardene picks Rohit Sharma’s partner in Asia Cup 2022

Mahela Jayawardene recently appeared on the ICC Review Podcast where he talked about the opening partner of Rohit Sharma in the Asia Cup 2022. India have tried several opening partners with Rohit in the T20 format, with the recent ones being Rishabh Pant and Suryakumar Yadav.

Jayawardene said that India always tries to bring in the next generation of cricketers, and he said that Rishabh Pant can be an option to open with Rohit in the Asia Cup. He said that Pant has the capacity to do that.

“India is always trying to bring that next generation of cricketers,” Mahela Jayawardene on the ICC Review Podcast.

“The Zimbabwe tour is a good opportunity for those guys to get a hit out there. (On Pant opening the innings) It is an option, even though he hasn’t done much in domestic cricket. But he has the capacity to do that.”

Although, KL Rahul is back in the side, and he is certain to open with Rohit, but India can take a punt with Rishabh to maintain the left-right combination. He recently opened in the T20Is against England as well. It is interesting to note that Pant boasts some great numbers as an opener on the domestic circuit.

In 2018, Rishabh Pant scored the 2nd fastest century in the history of T20 cricket, where he completed his century in just 32 balls. As an opener, he smashed 116 runs in 38 balls against Himachal Pradesh while playing for Delhi.