Amid the growing call that Virat Kohli should open the innings inT20Is, skipper Rohit Sharma on Sunday said it could be a possibility, reports ndtv.com.
Addressing a press conference at Mohali ahead of the three-match series against Australia, Rohit said, "For us, we understand the quality of all our players and what they bring for us. But yeah, it is an option (Virat Kohli opening) for us, we will always keep that in mind. Since we have not taken a third opener, he opens for his franchise in the IPL and he has done really well, so it is a definite option for us."
In fact, Virat's return to form in the recently-concluded Asia Cup that co-incided with KL Rahul's inconsistency at the top, has had a section of experts demanding the Delhi batter be pushed up the order keeping in mind the ICCT20 in October.
However, the Indian captain continues to repose faith in Rahul. "He is a very important player for Team India. For us, I just want to make it clear, we are clear in our thought process. We do not have any confusion, we are very clear what KL Rahul brings to the table for us, he is a quality player and is very important for us. His presence at the top is very crucial for us," said Rohit.
And he added, "Virat Kohli is our third opener and he will open in some of the games. In the last match of Asia Cup, we were happy with the way he played. But KL Rahul will open the batting in the World Cup, his performance sometimes goes quite unnoticed."
And the Mumbaikar is happy at the options he has at his disposal. "It is always nice to have options available for you. It is important going into a World Cup that you have flexibility. You want the players to be in best shape batting at any position. When we try and do something new, that does not mean that's a problem," added Rohit.
The bowling attack has suffered a setback after comeback man Mohammad Shami was infected with Covid and he has ben replaced by veteran pacer Umesh Yadav.
Elaborating on it, Rohit said, "There were few options, but few of them are injured like Prasidh. Siraj is playing county, we do not want him to fly all the way, maybe play one or two games. That won't be fair. Obviously, Shami unfortunate incident with him. Avesh was quite sick in the Asia Cup and he needs some time to recover. From fitness point of view, he needed some time and rebuild his fitness. All those things were considered. Guys like Umesh, Shami, who have been bowling for a long time, they do not need to be playing a format to be considered,"
Adding further on quality, Rohit said, "They have proven themselves as players in whichever format they have played. We understand the quality, it is the new guys on whom it will depend whether they have played this format or not. But guys like Umesh and Shami, if they are fit and fine, they will be called back. We don't need to look at their form, we saw how Umesh bowled in the IPL."
On Umesh's action, the skipper enlightened, "He bowled really well, he swings the ball, bowls fast. That was the thought, pretty simple actually. It was not much of a discussion for us. Keeping in mind World Cup is around the corner, we have tried a lot of players. We are very much clear in our thought process and how we want to move forward."