'It all depends on Virat Kohli's thinking' - Salman Butt on possibility of Indian skipper opening in T20 WC 2021

Salman Butt feels Indian skipper Virat Kohli can open the innings and score big ahead of the ICC T20 World Cup.

Published - 25 May 2021, 12:33 IST | Updated - 25 May 2021, 12:33 IST

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Indian Skipper Virat Kohli stunned fans and critics alike by walking with Rohit Sharma to open the innings in the T20I series against England. He finished the series with 231 runs in the five games at an impressive strike rate of 147.13. During a media interaction, the 31-year-old spoke about how he wanted the batters to go hard at the powerplay ahead of the T20I series and the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup which is slated to take place in India in October.

Kohli also went to open the innings in the 14^th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) for Royal Challengers Bangalore. Although he couldn’t get going barring an impressive fifty against Rajasthan Royals, he has made one thing clear that he would like to open with Sharma in the T20 World Cup too to get India off to a good start.

Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma are India’s best players says Butt

While speaking on his YouTube channel, Former Pakistan captain Salman Butt was asked a question related to the same, and Butt answered by saying it is ultimately the Indian skipper’s call.

“It depends and it’s possible. They (Rohit and Kohli) are India’s best players and Rohit Sharma anyway opens. Virat Kohli has been opening for his franchise, Royal Challengers (Bangalore in the IPL). But I feel we haven’t seen the best of him while opening the batting in international cricket recently. Moreover, they (India) have a left-hand-right-hand combination set. Shikhar Dhawan used to play earlier and lately, we have seen KL Rahul opening the batting.”Recently Butt also revealed that Prithvi Shaw needs to curb on his attacking instincts a bit if the selectors name him in the squad as a backup opener.

“They have a lot of options. You have Prithvi Shaw and other players who have performed in the IPL, so you have loads of options. So, it comes down to what Kohli chooses for himself. These two (Kohli and Rohit) are their top players and they’ll get the full quota of overs. If they play long, then every total is small for them. It comes down to how he (Kohli) wants to balance his team and at what stage should his best players come. It all depends on his thinking,” Butt concluded.

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