Rohit and Kohli had been included in India’s T20 squad after a spot of 14 months, and Raina stated their presence will give the squad quite a bit of solidity. File
Contrary to the prevalent notion of it as a backward step, former India all-rounder Suresh Raina on Thursday termed the choice of veterans Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli into the nationwide squad for the T20I sequence towards Afghanistan as a clever name with the World Cup quick approaching.
Rohit and Kohli had been included in India’s T20 squad after a spot of 14 months, and Raina stated their presence will give the squad quite a bit of solidity.
“If you look at the World Cup venues (in the USA and the West Indies), the wicket will be a bit tricky. India will need the experience of Rohit and Kohli there. Kohli is about to make 12000 runs in T20 cricket.
So, their presence will boost India’s batting. Their presence will certainly better India’s chances to win the T20 WC,” stated Raina, now an professional with JioCinema and Sports18, in a choose interplay.
“Their form in the ODI World Cup was very good, and Rohit brings in a lot of intent to the dressing room as the leader as well.”
Raina opined that Kohli ought to bat at No. 3, leaving the opening slots to Rohit and Yashasvi Jaiswal.
“I think Kohli should bat at No. 3. His experience will bring in some solidity, especially in the challenging pitches in the US and the Caribbean. There are fearless, young cricketers like Jaiswal, Rinku Singh or Shubman Gill but Rohit and Kohli will give the unit a lot of solidity.
Their presence is very important when we chase a target especially in a high-pressure event like the World Cup,” stated Raina.
The former middle-order batter, who was half of India’s World Cup wins in 2007 and 2011, was delighted to see the progress of Rinku Singh.
“Rinku has done well in the available opportunities for him and he showed a lot of presence of mind as a finisher as well. He is a fearless cricketer.
“It is necessary to have him round and if Rishabh Pant will get match in time (for WC), then the workforce will have one other match-winner,” said Raina.
The 37-year-old backed Sanju Samson as his leading choice for the wicketkeeper batsman role and called the Kerala player the X-Factor.
“Sanju has made an exquisite hundred towards South Africa not too long ago. He is certainly a captain materials as his thoughts is ticking on a regular basis whereas on the sphere. We have some excellent choices for wicketkeeper-batter function — KL Rahul, Jitesh Sharma, Ishan Kishan and Pant each time he comes again after getting match.”
In that context, Raina hoped Samson would come up with a good outing against the Afghans and in the IPL 2024.
“I choose to have Sanju in the middle-order as a result of he has quite a bit of pictures. He performs these pick-up pictures towards pacers from the size. Hopefully, he performs properly in the IPL too earlier than the selectors sit down to pick the workforce for the T20 World Cup.
So, it’s a good probability for Sanju towards Afghanistan, and he could be our X-Factor in the World Cup,” he detailed.
Raina said India will not have it easy against Afghanistan in the three-match T20I series, and the batters will have to put the visiting bowlers under pressure.
“India batsmen will need to assault Afghan spinners. They have high quality spinners like Noor Ahmad and Abid Nabi, so it will not be simple for us. Afghanistan makes use of their spinners properly in the Power Play.
We have Rohit, Kohli, and Gill, who performs spin very properly. So, we have now to assault them from the beginning and it will preserve the Afghan bowlers underneath stress,” he concluded.
