Shane Warne names a new opening partner for Rohit Sharma in World Cup 2019
He also felt that Dhawan can play some other role lower down the order.
Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan have been a formidable opening duo for India over the years in the limited-overs format. They have together stitched 4318 runs in 96 ODI innings at an average of 45.45 which includes 14 century stands while the pair is the fourth in the all-time list of highest opening partnership runs in a career. However, the former Australia cricketer Shane Warne feels that Team India can spring a surprise in the upcoming World Cup by changing the openers.
He feels that Virat Kohli can promote Rishabh Pant to open the innings along with Rohit Sharma during the tournament and catch the other teams by surprise. Warne is in favour of Pant playing as a specialist in the World Cup and also backs him to open the innings with Rohit.
But the move doesn’t seem to be coming from the Indian team management as Dhawan has done nothing wrong to be left out of the team. Rather his form has been exceptional in the 50-over format and takes a special liking to the ICC tournaments.
I think Dhoni and Pant both can play
“There has been talk if Rishabh Pant can play in the side. I think Dhoni and Pant both can play. I can’t see why Rishabh Pant can’t play as a batsman, he is outstanding. Maybe even open the batting with Rohit Sharma. I know Shikhar Dhawan does a great job but Rishabh Pant opening the batting with Rohit Sharma could be pretty cool too for India. Go with some of these X-factor type things and tactical battles, where you surprise the opposition,” Shane Warne said while speaking to India Today.
Moreover, Australia’s spin wizard felt that Dhawan can have some other role to play down the order for the team. He suggested the Rishabh Pant experiment for the upcoming ODI series against Australia.
“It could be worth throwing Rishabh Pant at the top of the order for a couple of games and see how he goes. Maybe against Australia now [upcoming series] and experiment and see how he goes for the World Cup. Dhawan may have a role to play somewhere else. But I am really looking forward to seeing what India have because they have a lot of players who can do a lot of roles,” Warne further added.
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