Will Rohit Sharma Drop Virat Kohli At No.3 After Three Failures? India’s Predicted Playing XI Against Afghanistan

New Delhi: Virat Kohli’s barren run with the bat at the top of the order has been the talk of the town ahead of India’s Super 8 clashes in the ongoing T20 World Cup 2024. With just five runs from three games so far, the idea of Kohli opening the batting with captain Rohit Sharma hasn’t gone well for the management as he managed scores of 1, 4 and 0 in three games so far. One of the greats of the game, Kohli has batted at No.3 for most of his career.

His elevation to the top came after Kohli bagged the Orange Cup with 741 runs while opening the innings for Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the Indian Premier League last month. Also, the team management’s decision to play two all-rounders in the playing XI pushed Kohli to the top of the batting order.

It’s true that three bad innings doesn’t question Kohli’s ability as a batter. With the real competition starting in the Super 8 stage, Kohli’s form is surely giving headaches to Rohit and head coach Rahul Dravid.

Why India Need Virat Kohli At No.3?

One of the better players of spin, Kohli coming at one down would help the Indians negate the Afghanistan bowling attack that consists of Rashid Khan, Noor Ahmed and Mohammad Nabi. The right-hander also will be able to guide his batting partner in the middle, an area that is much needed in a tournament like World Cup. He could play the anchor’s role when needed and shift gears towards the end to give the team much needed impetus.

Notably, Kohli has a good record while batting at No.3. Out of his 120 T20Is, Kohli came to bat at No.3 on 83 occasions, scoring 3076 runs. In the Caribbean, Kohli has played just three T20Is, scoring 112 runs including a half-century.
The opening slot could be taken by Yashavi Jaiswal, who has been warming the bench so far. Jaiswal’s inclusion also gives India the left-right combination at the top. His camaraderie with Rohit has also yielded India results in Jaiswal’s short international career.

If Jaiswal is picked and Kohli comes down at No.3, Shivam Dube is likely to get the axe as the all-rounder hasn’t been able to deliver so far. Brought into the side to hammer sixes in the middle and death overs, Dube has sent the ball out of the park only once in this competition.

Will India Bring In Kuldeep Yadav?

The big talking point ahead of the game is the Indian team combination. Going by the Rohit’s nature, the Mumbaikar isn’t fond of tinkering with the winning combination. But as far as Caribbean wickets are concerned, the inclusion of Kuldeep Yadav became a debatable topic. At the start of the tournament, Rohit had expressed his keenness to include all four all-rounders — Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, and Ravindra Jadeja — in the playing eleven.

That strategy suited the Indian team in the bowler-friendly conditions in New York and the captain is expected to retain the winning combination that stretches their batting till number 8. The only way to fit Kuldeep into the team is to either drop Mohammed Siraj or Arshdeep Singh for the wily spinner. If that does happen, Siraj is most likely to be benched.

If the two practice sessions of the Indian team are an indication, the pitch could offer plenty to the spinners making Kuldeep’s case stronger. With the gentle breeze blowing across the Kensington Oval, the pacers should get the ball to swing in the powerplay.

India’s Predicted Playing XI Vs Afghanistan: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rohit Sharma (c), Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav