Indian captain Virat Kohli played a little gamble in the fifth and final T20I against England after coming out to open the batting with Rohit Sharma in Ahmedabad. The experiment worked wonders for the side as Rohit and Kohli notched up an opening stand of 94 runs before Sharma departed 64.
Well, India had struggled a bit with the opening combination but the way Rohit and Kohli fared at the Narendra Modi Stadium was quite exceptional. This was only the second time that Kohli opened with Rohit Sharma in T20I's.
Now, with the World T20 in mind, captain Kohli has himself shown some interest in opening the innings with Rohit.
“I am going to open in IPL as well. I have batted in different positions in the past. But I feel we have a solid middle-order now. So, I will definitely like to partner Rohit at the top going into the T20 World Cup,” Kohli said at the post-match presentation.
“Two best batsmen in the team, one can play second fiddle if the other gets going. That can inflict a lot of damage to the opposition team. Other guys also feel a lot more confident when one of us is still in and is set.”
Talking about his dominating partnership with Rohit, Kohli suggested that the two batsmen felt pretty positive while they were out in the middle. “Today Rohit and me were both positive in our intent. We knew we could trust each other and one of us can play second fiddle if one takes off.”
India defeated England by 36 runs in the final T20I to win the series 3-2. While Sharma scored 64, Kohli remained unbeaten at 80 off 52 helping India post 224/2 in 20 overs. The home side then restricted Eoin Morgan’s team to 188/8 to eventually win the game and the series.
India and England will now lock horns in the ODI fixtures scheduled to begin on Tuesday.