Brian Lara has his say about the misfiring Indian Openers

Despite qualifying for the Super 8 stage and defeating USA on Wednesday, India has plenty to worry about in their ongoing T20 World Cup campaign. Currently, their batting department, especially their opening pair, has been underperforming, forcing the team to rely on their potent pace attack.

Against the USA during India’s 111-run chase, opener Rohit Sharma departed for three off six balls. Meanwhile, Virat Kohli, who hasn’t found his footing in this tournament, was dismissed for a golden duck. They had to rely on Suryakumar Yadav and Shivam Dube in the run chase, who took them past the finish line.

Rohit started off the tournament with a half-century but hasn’t been able to build on that. Meanwhile, Kohli has registered scores of 1 (5), 4 (3), and 0 (1).

Brian Lara Backs Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli

Many fans have called for the selection of left-handed opener Yashasvi Jaiswal with Rohit and to send Kohli back to his original No. 3 position. However, West Indies legend Brian Lara feels that Rahul Dravid should stick to his opening pair of Rohit and Kohli due to their impressive resume.

“Definitely, India had the option to play a left-right opening partnership. They went with two great players, two guys who’ve done a great job for India with the bat for their individual franchises as well in terms of the captain Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. I think they’ve got to stick with it,” Lara said.

Lara further added, “As you just said, if you do make changes on top, Virat Kohli has to come in the order a little bit lower and that’s going to upset things there. I believe that the combination India is having and India has to back the two of them. At some point in time, they’re going to come good with conditions. The batting conditions in the USA were not the very best. I don’t believe you start making changes especially if you’re winning.”

India defeated the USA by seven wickets in New York. Chasing 111, India reached 111/3 in 18.2 overs, courtesy of Suryakumar (50) and Shivam Dube (31). Initially, the USA posted 110/8 in 20 overs as Arshdeep Singh and Hardik Pandya returned with figures of 4/9 and 2/14 respectively.

The Indian team management now faces a crucial decision on whether to stick with their experienced openers or make a change for the upcoming matches.

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