Virat Kohli could open the batting in the T20I tomorrow

The Indian team has had almost the perfect West Indies tour. Virat Kohli and co. have dominated the series except that small little blip in the fourth ODI.

After a frustrating loss in the Champions Trophy final, India desperately needed a convincing series win under their belt, and to the team management’s satisfaction everyone in the team has done their job.

The only questionable thing about this series has been Rishabh Pant’s non-inclusion in the eleven and Yuvraj Singh’s form with the bat.

Indian fans have been crying out loud for Pant to be included in the ODI setup, as he could be a long-term replacement for Dhoni. But Virat Kohli, for some reason, has been reluctant in drafting him into the side.

Against a side that is ranked 9 in the world, you would have expected Pant to have a long run in the playing well, but the usual suspects have been preferred instead. However, the one-off T20 provides the Indian team management to tinker a little with the eleven.

Reports suggest that Virat Kohli could open the batting with Shikhar Dhawan tomorrow, as he sees himself taking up the openers role in the future in the T20 format.

Ajinkya Rahane’s inability to take the attack to the opposition could mean that Kohli could shift to the top of the order and Pant could come in at 3.

Kuldeep Yadav has done exceedingly well in the ODIs and would be taking his rightful place in the XI tomorrow as well. We’ll have to wait and see who among Ashwin and Jadeja would be playing tomorrow. Bhuvi could be returning back to the XI, but again there is no certainty as to who between Shami and Umesh would sit out.

West Indies would be bolstered by the return of Chris Gayle, but his awful record against Bhuvi could go against him. Samuel Badree and Carlos Braithwaite would also make it to the Windies XI.

About the author

Utkarsh Bhatla