Virender Sehwag picks India's top three for T20 World Cup, leaves out Virat Kohli

Former India batter Virender Sehwag has made a huge omission as he has left out star Indian batter Virat Kohli from his top three for the upcoming T20 World Cup in Australia. The former opening batter reckons Ishan Kishan, KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma should be the top three for the tournament.

Sehwag feels that the opening combination of right-hand and left-hand batters, in Ishan Kishan along with either KL Rahul or Rohit Sharma would be “interesting”. Kishan, since his T20I debut in March 2021, has appeared in 16 matches and scored 521 runs at an average of 34.73 and a strike rate of 134.97. He was also the top scorer in the five-match home series against South Africa earlier in the month with 206 runs at a strike rate of over 150.

“India has options aplenty when it comes to hard hitters in T20s,” said Sehwag, on Sony Network. “However, I would personally vouch for Rohit Sharma, Ishan Kishan, and KL Rahul as the top three batters for the World Cup in Australia. The right-hand and left-hand combination of Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan, or for that matter, Ishan and KL Rahul could be quite interesting for the World T20,” he added.

Umran Malik should be in India’s plan alongside Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammad Shami: Sehwag

Virat Kohli, regarded as one of the best players of the era, is on a bit of a slump as far as scoring runs is concerned. In the last two editions of the Indian Premier League (IPL), he scored 746 runs in 31 innings at an average of 25.825 and a strike rate of 117.72.

Speaking about India’s pace sensation Umran Malik, Sehwag said that he was “thoroughly” impressed with the speedster. Malik recently got his call-up for the series against South Africa and also made his international debut in the first T20I against Ireland in Dublin, after an impressive IPL season with Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH).

“If there is one pacer who has thoroughly impressed me, of late, it is none other than Umran Malik. He should definitely be part of India’s plans as one of the key bowlers alongside the likes of Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammad Shami,” said Sehwag.