Team India has announced the squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup. Since the announcement of the team, there has been a discussion as to who will open with Rohit Sharma in the tournament. There is a debate going on among cricket pundits regarding the names of young batsmen Yashasvi Jaiswal and Virat Kohli for this place.

Actually, you must be thinking that Virat Kohli bats at number 3, then why are questions being raised about his opening. Let us tell you that Kohli is batting brilliantly as an opener in the IPL and he is in a very red hot form in the current season. In such a situation, everyone wants Kohli to open with Rohit Sharma.

Kohli has scored 708 runs in 14 innings of the ongoing IPL season and is at number 1 in the list of highest run scorers. But still questions are being raised about his strike rate and talks are going on that Kohli should not be given a place in the team. Meanwhile, Australian legend Ricky Ponting has given a statement in support of Kohli and silenced the critics.

Australia legend Ponting, a three-time World Cup winner, says that strike rate has been given more priority than average in recent times, but it is important for Kohli to remain in Team India.

Ponting told the ICC, “I think three or four years ago, there was a talk amongst teams that you could take 60 balls in the top order but still score 80-100 runs. It was about scoring runs and not about the number of balls you played. But now the game is based on strike rate, where instead of scoring 80 runs in 55 balls, you can have a bigger impact on the game by scoring 40 runs in 15 balls.”

Should other players be given place in place of Virat Kohli?

While talking to ICC, Ricky Ponting said that-

“The selectors will have to take a decision regarding India’s opening pair. Yashasvi Jaiswal is also in the team, a decision will have to be taken on his batting position. I am sure that Virat Kohli will open the innings with Rohit Sharma. He can play the role of opening batsman very well. After him, Suryakumar Yadav and other batsmen can score runs quickly. In today’s cricket, there is talk about a higher than average strike rate, but Virat Kohli’s usefulness to the Indian team cannot be underestimated.

“It’s fun with Virat. I think people in India always try to find a reason not to pick him or try to find a reason why maybe he is not as good as some of these other guys in the T20 game. Kohli can play everywhere in the top order and middle order. Whenever there are big matches, Kohli takes responsibility and gives you the finishing touches. Kohli has that kind of class and experience because of which you cannot drop him from the team.”

From this statement of Ricky Ponting, it seems that Yashasvi Jaiswal’s place is now in danger. It will be interesting to see which playing 11 India goes with in the tournament and which players are given which roles.