Virat Kohli not in Sehwag's top three Indian batters list for the T20 World Cup

The 2022 T20 World Cup, scheduled in Australia, is just a few months away, and the cricket analysts and former cricketers have started making their predictions regarding the Indian squad. 

Former Indian opener Virender Sehwag recently made a surprising statement as he left the former captain Virat Kohli out of his list of top three Indian batters.

Kohli is widely regarded as the best Indian batsman of the current era. He has batted at number three for most of his international career for India in the shortest format of the game. The Delhi-born has a whopping 3296 T20I runs to his name at a stunning average of 51.5 and a strike rate of 137.7.

However, the former Indian skipper is going through a lean patch in his career. Virat, who has 70 international centuries, is yet to score a hundred since November 2019. Thus, Virender Sehwag left him out while predicting the top three batters for the Indian team ahead of the T20 World Cup. 

Sehwag believes that skipper Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, and Ishan Kishan will be the perfect top three batters for India in the marquee event. The veteran also stressed the importance of having a left-right combination at the top. For India to have a left and right combination, Ishan Kishan will have to open the innings. In that case, Rohit or Rahul will have to go down to the third place. 

Ishan was highly impressive during India's recently-concluded South Africa tour. The young batter was the top run-getter with 206 runs at an average of 41.20. 

"India has options aplenty when it comes to hard hitters in T20s. However, I would personally vouch for Rohit Sharma, Ishan Kishan, and KL Rahul as the top three batters for the World Cup in Australia. The right-hand and left-hand combination of Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan, or for that matter, Ishan and KL Rahul could be quite interesting for the World T20," Virender Sehwag said while speaking on Sony Sports. 

Meanwhile, Sehwag also backed the young seamer Umran Malik to be a part of India's pace attack alongside Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammad Shami. Malik was a revelation in the Indian Premier League 2022. He picked up 22 wickets in 14 fixtures for Sunrisers Hyderabad while consistently bowling at a speed of over 150 km/h. 

The seamer debuted for the Men in Blue on Sunday in the first T20 International against Ireland. Unfortunately, Umran didn't have a good outing as he conceded 14 runs in the only over he bowled without taking any wicket. However, despite the poor start, Sehwag has backed Umran to represent India in all three game formats. 

"If there is one pacer who has thoroughly impressed me, of late, it is none other than Umran Malik. He should definitely be part of India's plans as one of the key bowlers alongside the likes of Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammad Shami. This IPL has given us many promising young bowlers, but Umran's skills and talent will definitely earn him a place in the Indian across all three formats in the long run," Sehwag concluded.