For the first T20 match against West Indies, there were speculations that Rishabh Pant might open the Indian innings with captain Rohit Sharma. The assumption was obvious as Pant has opened the innings with Rohit Sharma against the recently concluded T20I series against England.
But, the Indian think tank surprised everyone by sending Suryakumar Yadav to open the innings with Hitman Sharma. Rishabh Pant was placed to bat in the middle order, where he used to be earlier. In the absence of Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer was sent ahead of Deepak Hooda at number three.
Former India batsman Parthiv Patel believes that these changes are being made to fill the gap. The former wicket-keeper batsman also thinks that they are doing it for star Indian batter Virat Kohli, so that he can make a place in the team’s playing XI.
Talking to Cricbuzz, Parthiv Patel said that he wanted Virat Kohli to return in the ODI series against West Indies. The reason was, with this format he would have got time to get back in form.
“He is a legend of the game. And all these changes we are seeing in the opening order, that’s happening because they want to try and fit in Virat Kohli in that XI. That’s the reason we are seeing Surya and Rishabh Pant opening. That’s something I feel,” Parthiv Patel said on Cricbuzz.
“I would have liked to see him (Kohli) play the one-day series. It is an easier option of coming back to form. There are fifty overs, there’s a lot of time. Shikhar Dhawan, Shubman Gill came back to run-scoring with almost a-run-a-ball,” the former Indian cricketer added.
In the past few months, India has undergone many opening changes. With Rohit Sharma, they have tried Shikhar Dhawan, Rishabh Pant, and Shubman Gill. On the same side, in T20I, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ishan Kishan, Deepak Hooda, and Sanju Samson have experimented in several series.
