India captain Rohit Sharma has put to bed all the suggestions and speculations surrounding KL Rahul’s batting spot saying he remains the team’s first-choice opener but did add that Virat Kohli “will have to open" in some of the games.
Since his maiden T20I century during an Asia Cup 2022 match against Afghanistan, a raging debate has ensued regarding the need to replace an out-of-sorts Rahul with Kohli as Rohit’s opening partner.
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“Rahul (Dravid) bhai and I have had a chat that we will have to make Virat open in some of the games because he is our third opener," Rohit said during a media interaction in Mohali ahead of the T20I series against Australia that starts from Tuesday.
“In the last match we saw what he did (as opener) and we are obviously happy about that," Rohit said recalling Kohli’s sparkling unbeaten 122 against Afghanistan.
That also ended Kohli’s wait for a century in any form of cricket since November 2019. However, Rahul will continue to open and India will not experiment with that slot at the T20 World Cup that starts from October 16 in Australia.
“K L Rahul will open for us at the T20 World Cup. We are not going to experiment with that position a lot," Rohit said.
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A hamstring injury, a surgery and then a bout of covid prevented Rahul’s international return for nearly two months after the conclusion of IPL 2022. He did make his comeback eventually during the Zimbabwe tour but has looked a pale shadow of his old self.
However, Rohit defended his teammate claiming Rahul’s performance often go unnoticed.
“His performances often go noticed. He is a very important player for India. If you look at his performances over last two-three years, it has been very good. I want to make it clear to everyone that we have absolute clarity on this and we know it very well. There is no confusion," he said.
“We are clear what KL brings to the table for us. He is match winner for us as well. We have not picked a back-up opener and Virat can obviously open for us. He has done that well for his IPL franchise over the years," he added.
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