India's T20 World Cup 2024 campaign starts on June 5 against Ireland. However, the critical question remains: Who will open alongside Rohit Sharma? While Sanju Samson and Rohit were seen opening up in the warm-up game, this might not be the case against Ireland. India will want a stable batter in the middle overs along with Rishabh Pant and Hardik Pandya. Moreover, as per the former India batter Nayan Mongia, India will go with Rohit and Virat Kohli as their opening batters. Yashavi Jaiswal might not get a chance to play the match.
"The management has made it clear that Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli will open the batting for the Indian team against Ireland on June 5. It means Yashasvi Jaiswal will not be considered. The aim is to go in with a strong middle-order. India don’t want to leave out players, who can impact the game," said Nayan Mongia on Star Sports.
If we look at Kohli's recent performance in the IPL 2024, he has scored 741 runs in 15 matches at a strike rate of above 150 while opening with Faf du Plessis. Hence, if the management goes with Kohli as an opener, it might not be a wrong choice at all.
Pant and Pandya terror during IND vs BAN warm-up match
While India played their one and only warm-up game against Bangladesh and won it comfortably, two batters surprised the fans with their performance. Rishabh Pant and Hardik Pandya's brilliant batting performance sent out a clear message to the world that India is ready for the tournament.
Pant scored 53 runs off 32 balls, including four boundaries and four sixes, while Hardik scored 40 runs off 23 balls, including two boundaries and four sixes. Bangladesh failed to chase a target of 183 runs and lost the match by 60 runs. Their batting order shattered except for Mahmudullah, who scored 40 runs off 28 balls.
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