Former India cricketer Wasim Jaffer has expressed his support for maintaining India’s opening batting pair of Virat Kohli and captain Rohit Sharma during the Super Eight stage of the ongoing T20 World Cup. Despite a lacklustre start to the tournament, Jaffer is confident that the experienced duo will regain their form in the upcoming crucial match against Afghanistan in Barbados on June 20.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kohli and Rohit have struggled to find their footing in the tournament so far. Kohli, who entered the World Cup in scintillating form from the IPL 2024, has managed only five runs across three innings, with his highest score being just four runs against Pakistan. Rohit, on the other hand, has amassed only 68 runs in his three outings, with a notable knock of 52 against Ireland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Speaking to Star Sports, Jaffer highlighted the importance of sticking with the seasoned pair despite their recent struggles. “Now that you are stuck with both of them, I don’t think it’s gonna make sense to split them up,” Jaffer explained. “You might probably think of playing Yashasvi Jaiswal, but then Rishabh Pant, who has done so well at number three, would have to bat lower down the order, probably at number four. Then where does Suryakumar Yadav bat? So it’s going to mess up the whole batting order, so I think they’ll probably stick with that.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jaffer emphasized that reshuffling the batting order could lead to further complications, disrupting the roles of key players like Rishabh Pant and Suryakumar Yadav. Pant, who has been effective at number three, and Yadav, who thrives higher up the order, could find their contributions hampered by such changes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Rishabh has done well at number three. Suryakumar, you don’t want to bat him any lower than that, so I think they’ll stick with that. But yeah, they have to go really hard in the powerplay. We’ve seen when Australia did that against England, they were so ahead in the powerplay, getting that 74 runs. That’s where you can make a mark. So Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, the way they are batting, you could see that happen in the powerplay in West Indies.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
India\u2019s qualification to the Super Eight was sealed with a convincing seven-wicket win against co-hosts USA. As they prepare to face an in-form Afghanistan in their first match in the Caribbean, the Men in Blue\u2019s confidence in Kohli and Sharma\u2019s ability to bounce back will be a crucial factor in their strategy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jaffer’s remarks underscore the importance of consistency and faith in experienced players, especially in high-stakes tournaments like the T20 World Cup. The upcoming matches will test Kohli and Rohit\u2019s resolve and form, and their performance could significantly influence India\u2019s prospects in the competition.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Former India cricketer Wasim Jaffer has expressed his support for maintaining India’s opening batting pair of Virat Kohli and captain Rohit Sharma during the Super Eight stage of the ongoing T20 World Cup. Despite a lacklustre start to the tournament, Jaffer is confident that the experienced duo will regain their form in the upcoming crucial […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":17897,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17895","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"\n