India vs England 2021: “Opening with Virat Kohli was a tactical move,” says Rohit Sharma

India vs England 2021: “Opening with Virat Kohli was a tactical move,” says Rohit Sharma

Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli

India sealed a fantastic victory in the fifth T20I fashioned by the batters against England in Ahmedabad. Heading into the match with the series locked at 2-2, India were put in to bat and had their task cut out against the English bowlers. However, opening with skipper Virat Kohli and vice-captain Rohit Sharma, India put on a stupendous batting performance with both scoring fifties to take India to 224.

In the chase, there were jitters when Jos Buttler and Dawid Malan were going strong with half-centuries. However, a match-changing spell by Bhuvneshwar Kumar turned the game in India’s favor. Shardul Thakur then chipped in with two quick wickets to completely derail the English chase and seal victory by 36 runs.

Rohit Sharma speaks on India’s opening combination

Rohit Sharma
Rohit Sharma

Rohit Sharma addressed a virtual press conference and spoke about India’s opening combination. “Still early days to be talking about what the batting lineup will be looking like in the T20 World Cup. We have to analyse and think about what suits the team the most. Today was a tactical move because we wanted an extra bowler to play. We wanted to leave 1 batsman out and unfortunately, it was KL Rahul,” he said.

Speaking further about KL Rahul, he said, “He has been one of our key players in limited-overs format, especially in this format. Looking at the current form the team management decided to play the best XI. But having said that, it doesn’t send any signal that KL will not be considered this was just for one particular game.”

“Things might change as we go closer to the World Cup, we do understand his ability and contribution at the top and what he’s done for us. I’m not going to rule out anything neither am I going to say that this is the preferred batting lineup for the World Cup,” Rohit signed off.

The focus will now shift to the three-match ODI series that will begin in Pune on March 23.

Also Read: India vs England: ‘KL Rahul’s loss of form has been a blessing in disguise,’ reckons Sunil Gavaskar