Where Virat Kohli wants to bat is important, opines Rohit Sharma

Rohit Sharma found great form before entering the ODI series thanks to a scintillating hundred in Bristol, which helped India win the T20I series. There was never a question on how important he is in the limited overs fixtures and with the ODI series hours away from commencement, he will be keen to deliver once again.

The Indian vice-captain also faces a conundrum alongside his skipper Virat Kohli right now, the batting position of KL Rahul. Rahul, who was previously experimented at number 4 and 5, didn’t do a great job. Clearly, his forte is batting in the top 3 and Kohli had sacrificed his position in T20s for Rahul.

But Kohli is an absolute legend in that position when it comes to the ODIs. Will he give up that position for Rahul is the question haunting most of the fans right now. Rohit though, said he was unsure of where Rahul will bat and opined that Kohli’s priority matters the most.

“Speaking of Rahul batting at 3 or 4, I don’t know where he’ll bat in ODIs. Certainly, he has been in great form. We have got to see tomorrow where he actually bats. It will either be No 3 or 4. I don’t know where the captain wants to bat. That will be the most important question,” Rohit said in the pre-match press conference.

“I think Rahul’s a quality player – wherever he bats he will make an impact for sure. I think he’s looking forward to this opportunity. He has waited for a long time. He certainly wants to make an impact. And we have seen how good he had been batting recently. So he will be eager to go out there and make an impact,” he added.

Good to see youngsters come up with match-winning performances

The young Indian brigade has no dearth of talent and temperament, the T20I series which concluded a few days ago is a testament to that fact. Rohit said that it was good to see youngsters like them come up with such match-winning performances.

“It has been striking to observe the new boys come up with match-winning performances. Kuldeep (Yadav), (Yuzvendra) Chahal, Hardik (Pandya), (KL) Rahul, (Jasprit) Bumrah, these five to six boys have taken a lot of responsibilities in the last one year.

When you see these boys performing we felt happy because to come in new and take up the responsibility is not really easy, as we ourselves have experienced. “These guys are like `give us responsibility, put us under pressure and we will succeed’. The team goal is only to win wherever we play, perform whether we are seniors or juniors,’ Rohit said.

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