IND vs ENG | It was very important for Virat Kohli to open the innings, opines Sunil Gavaskar

India’s approach at the top of the batting order in T20Is has been puzzling. After sticking with the combination of Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul at the top of the order, the Men in Blue, during the course of the series, decided to break the partnership. In the fifth and final game, up stepped Virat Kohli, jumping as the opener, with Suryakumar Yadav taking over as the No.3, in fine form too. 

While Rohit denied that this would be the World T20 plans, former Indian opener Sunil Gavaskar insisted that it was very important that Virat Kohli opened the innings for the Indian team. Gavaskar also mentioned that KL Rahul’s loss of form has come as a blessing in disguise for the Men in Blue. 

"Your best batsman should bat the most number of overs in limited-overs cricket. So it was very important for Virat Kohli to bat at the top of the order. So maybe, KL Rahul’s loss of form has been a blessing in disguise because this has given us an opening combination to look forward to,” Gavaskar told India Today. 

On the other hand, Gavaskar drew comparisons with Sachin Tendulkar, stating that during his primitive years, the Indian legend was batting lower down the order before switching up as the opener. Gavaskar insisted that Kohli too should start opening the innings and face the maximum number of balls in a T20I fixture, which, he feels, will improve the scoring rate. 

"Like when Sachin Tendulkar was batting down the order in ODIs and then he was sent up to open the batting and what a transformation it had not just on his batting but the whole team. So clearly, your best batsman have to bat as many overs as they can," Gavaskar added.