|| India Corresponent ||
With Team India playing against England in the five-match Twenty20 International series in Ahmedabad from tomorrow, their opening slot becomes a matter of debate. While Shikhar Dhawan has batted in that position for a long alongside Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul' recent success with the bat as an opener makes him a strong contender.
However, Virat Kohli has confirmed who will open for India in the first T20I against England between Shikhar Dhawan or KL Rahul. Kohli has confirmed that KL Rahul will open with Rohit Sharma in the match while he also ruled out the speculation about all three of them playing together by calling Shikhar Dhawan a 'third opener' as well.
"It's quite simple, KL and Rohit have been performing at the top of the order for us and those two would start," Kohli said in a virtual press conference on the eve of the first of the five T20Is at the Narendra Modi Stadium. "And if Rohit takes rest or Kl has a niggle or something Shikki (Shikhar Dhawan) obviously comes back as a third opener. The starting composition, Rohit and Rahul will start."
Both Dhawan and Rahul opened for India in their last T20 series in Australia as Rohit Sharma didn't feature because of an injury. However, with the return of the limited-overs vice-captain to the squad, it left the team with a difficult situation to take a call between Dhawan and Rahul.
While speaking about the inclusion of new faces like Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan and Rahul Tewatia Kohli said: "We have made additions to the squad who can be X-Factors in the batting lineup. We want to see how they fare in the middle."
"We want to play free cricket, we have explosive batsmen in the team now. That's exactly what we are trying to address. This time around you will see players bat more freely. I see us being much more free with our approach from this series onwards," he concluded.