T20 World Cup 2021: Aakash Chopra backs KL Rahul to open ahead of Virat Kohli

There are still four months left for the ICC T20 World Cup 2021, but already a lot of experts and critics have started discussions related to team combinations for the global event which is scheduled to take place in the UAE. Cricketer-turned-commentator Aakash Chopra too has an opinion and feels there will be tough competition for the second openers’ slot for the T20 World Cup with Virat Kohli and KL Rahul being the likely players to open with Rohit Sharma at the top.

Rahul was seen in a stellar run of form in T20I cricket last year, scoring runs and providing India a brisk start upfront. But, a dismal series against England in the shortest format prompted the Indian skipper to move up the order from number three, which in the end turned out a good move as Kohli was the leading run-scorer in the series. Later, in the post-match presentation, the 32-year-old spoke about how he plans to continue to open with Sharma in the future too.

With as many as four players in contention for the opening slot, a fan asked the same question to Chopra on his YouTube channel, to which the latter responded by saying: “India have a lot of choices. Shikhar Dhawan is one, KL Rahul is the second and then you’ve got Virat Kohli too. And I would like to add Prithvi Shaw. The brand of cricket that he plays is amazing, it’s not necessary that he will score in every match but the day he scores, he will be unstoppable,” Chopra said.

Aakash Chopra feels it will be a direct battle between Virat Kohli and KL Rahul

The 43-year-old stated that it will ultimately be a direct shootout between Kohli and Rahul, in which Chopra predicted the latter to come out on the top, to open the batting alongside Sharma in the T20 World Cup.

“In the end, it might just be a toss-up between Rahul and Kohli. Rahul might just win that race because now Pant will come in the middle order so there is no need for Rahul to play that role. Hardik Pandya, Pant, and Ravindra Jadeja can handle the middle order duties. So I would play Rahul up the order and Kohli at 3 or maybe the other way around,” Chopra said.