The T20 World Cup kicks off for India on Wednesday, June 5 as they face Ireland at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York. This marks their first international T20I match since their series win against Afghanistan in January. Adding to the pre-match buzz, former Indian captain Sunil Gavaskar has weighed in on the potential playing XI for the clash against Ireland. Steering away from the conventional left-right opening combination, Gavaskar, speaking on Star Sports, surprisingly named Virat Kohli as Rohit Sharma's opening partner for the match.
Sunil Gavaskar wants Virat Kohli to open with Rohit Sharma
"The way Kohli has batted, particularly the second half of the IPL, he deserves to open the batting with Rohit Sharma, the captain. Seriously, good players are good players. They can bat anywhere, you know whether they're right and left hand," Gavaskar, who isn't fascinated with left-right theory, told Start Sports.
Sunil Gavaskar's predicted XI for India's T20 World Cup opener against Ireland throws up some interesting talking points. The most unexpected pick is arguably Yashasvi Jaiswal's inclusion at number 3. While Jaiswal has been a prolific scorer, he's exclusively opened the batting for India and his IPL franchise, Rajasthan Royals. His experience at number 3 is limited to the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy for Mumbai, where he compiled decent scores but lacked consistency.
Another surprise pick is Mohammed Siraj as the lone backup pacer alongside Jasprit Bumrah. This comes despite Arshdeep Singh's impressive showing in the warm-up match against Bangladesh. Further raising eyebrows is Gavaskar's decision to slot Shivam Dube at number 8. Dube has primarily batted at number 5 or 6 for India in T20Is, with no experience at the lower end of the order. These unconventional choices by Gavaskar highlight the ongoing debate surrounding India's ideal playing XI for the World Cup. With the actual lineup yet to be revealed, fans will be eagerly waiting to see if Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dravid share Gavaskar's vision.
Sunil Gavaskar's India playing XI for T20 World Cup match vs Ireland
Rohit Sharma (c), Virat Kohli, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Shivam Dube, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh.
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