India's opening combinations in the 2021 England T20I series - 1st T20I: Rahul - Shikhar 2nd T20I: Rahul - Ishan 3rd T20I: Rahul - Rohit 4th T20I: Rahul - Rohit 5th T20I: Rohit - Kohli. India tried as many as four opening combinations in the five match T20I series against England played at Ahmedabad and were successful in winning the series in spite of that. For the longest time, Rohit Sharma and ShikharDhawan were the undisputed openers for Team India in white ball cricket, be it 50 overs cricket or 20 overs cricket. Truth be told, for the longest time, both the formats have been seen from a similar lens which is not the case any more. India is now looking to push explosive batsmen in T20 cricket while understanding the difference of pacing between 50 overs cricket and 20 overs cricket. This is the reason why the likes of ShikharDhawan who still continue to be super successful in the 50 over format may not be that good a fit in 20 overs cricket any more. The reason is that the players in the mould of Dhawan take a bit of time to get going after which they can be explosive. Given the cut throat competition and the type of batting strength of teams like England and West Indies, India can ill afford chewing up even a few deliveries at the start of the innings, especially in the powerplay. This is why after Dhawan failed to get going in the first T20I of the recently concluded 5 match series between India and England, the Indian team decided to experiment. The team handed Ishan Kishan his debut in the second T20 who opened the batting for India alongside KL Rahul and did wonders, scoring a sensational half century. Rohit Sharma returned in the third T20 and opened the batting alongside KL Rahul. The combination was persisted with during the fourth T20I as well. However, with KL Rahul not making the most of his four opportunities, ViratKohli decided to step up himself and open the batting with Rohit Sharma. The move paid rich dividends as Rohit Sharma and ViratKohli added 94 runs from just 9 overs. While Rohit was dismissed on 64 off 34 deliveries, ViratKohli remained unbeaten, making 80 off 52 deliveries at a strike rate of 153.85, helping India to a total of 224. While ShikharDhawan is still likely to be part of India's T20 squad, the likelihood of KL Rahul, ViratKohli or Ishan Kishan opening a batting in the T20 World Cup is more.
