REVEALED! Rohit Sharma, Rahul Dravid Decided on Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant’s New Batting Position for T20 World Cup 2024, Here’s WHY

Barbados: It should not have been a surprise for fans to see Virat Kohli opening the batting in the ongoing T20 World Cup 2024 with Rohit Sharma after a dream run at the IPL. But, what about Rishabh Pant, as not many may have expected him to bat at No. 3. So, who took the call and on what basis was it made? India’s batting coach Vikram Rathour has finally broken silence on this. While the ploy of opening with Kohli may have backfired, the experiment with Pant worked wonders. Rathour claims that the strategy to have Pant at No. 3 was to counter left-arm spinners.

“Our batting group has great versatility. After discussing with everyone, we concluded that Virat’s best batting position would be to open. He is great against fast bowlers and came out of an excellent IPL season. As a group, we wanted a left-hander at No. 3 because if an opposition side starts with a left-arm spinner, we would have an advantage, and in Rishabh Pant, we found a perfect player who could take up that role. He actually showed that in the last 2-3 matches,” Rathour said on Star Sports.

India concluded the first round with seven points and at the top of Group A. The Rohit Sharma-led side had already qualified for Super 8 following their victory over the co-hosts USA.

India will play their first match of the Super 8 on Thursday against Afghanistan at Kensington Oval Barbados. The Indian team will start favourites against Afghanistan but certainly cannot take them lightly.