Team India must have begun sorting their batting order out for the ongoing T20 World Cup as not much time remains for their campaign opener against Ireland in New York on Wednesday.

A little bit of dligence needs to be applied in this case, particularly as the 22-yard surface at the Nassau County International Stadium in New York doesn’t appear to be too easy for stroke-making. Besides, the Paul Stirling-led Irishmen do have the experience of World Cups and causing an upset or two at the biggest state, and thus cannot really be written off as just another of those minnows.

If one goes back to the only warm-up game India played, against Bangladesh at the New York Stadium last Saturday, captain Rohit Sharma had Sanju Samson as his opening partner with keeper-batter Rishabh Pant batting at No.3 followed by Suryakumar Yadav and all-rounders Shivam Dube, Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja. In the tournament proper though, Virat Kohli, who joined the squad just a day before the warm-up game, looks likely to open alongside skipper Rohit.

But the striking part of that practice game was Pant hitting a fluent 32-ball 53 that had laid the foundation for India reaching 182/6, which was quite a formidable total on that kind of a spongy wicket. Now, promoting Pant up at No.3 in that warm-up match was “just to give him an opportunity” as the batting order wasn’t “nailed” till then, as Rohit had said later.

Having said that, it certainly would benefit India if Pant comes in at No.3. For, if he gets going, he will surely make use of the Powerplay and lay a fine platform for the rest of the batters. In the recently-concluded IPL, which marked Pant’s return to competitive cricket after more than a year, Nos.4, 5 and sometimes 6 were the positions he batted at most of the time for the Delhi Capitals. But the lone occasion the Capitals captain batted at No.3, against Chennai Super Kings in Visakhapatnam back on March 31, he had hit 51 off 32 balls.

It reflects that even if No.3 isn’t a usual position for Pant, he has got the ability to make the required adjustments and score runs for his team. Also, even if India lose one of their openers very early in their innings, promoting Pant to No.3 provides the scope to exploit the fielding restrictions in the Powerplay and build a foundation making the task easier for the likes of Surya, Dube and Pandya.

Pant’s aggression and ability to unleash unorthodox strokes can put any bowling side under pressure. And on that tricky New York pitch, unorthodox style and ability to improvise will certainly come in handy.

However, keeping Pant for the last six to eight overs may benefit India more, feels former opener WV Raman. “Not much should be read into a warm-up game as sending him at No.3 was maybe about giving him more game time. If he explodes in the last five-six overs along with players like Hardik, (Ravindra) Jadeja or even an Axar Patel, that can really be the game-changer.

“Suppose in a game, India still have Rishabh at the dugout for the last eight-nine overs, it will surely keep the opposition under pressure,” Raman told The Telegraph on Monday.