Virat Kohli said on Thursday that Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul will debut as openers for India in the upcoming five-match T20 series against England. Rohit, Rahul and Shikhar Dhawan are available in the team for the three opener series. Kohli said that KL (Rahul) and Rohit (Sharma) are consistently doing well. They will both start. All five T20Is of the series will be played at the Narendra Modi Stadium.
Ahead of the series, there have been reports that spinner Varun Chakraborty was also in the squad for the series, having failed a fitness test. Kohli said that the players are expected to match the fitness standards set for the team.
“We would expect the players to follow (the standards) for Team India,” Kohli said.
With the influx of newcomers into the team, most of all Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan, Kohli feels that the team now has the batting depth to express themselves freely for the players.
Kohli said, “This time you guys will look a little more free, a little more expressive. We didn’t have enough depth in batting before, but I see that we are a lot more positive and independent.”
This T20I series is also being seen as a preparation for the upcoming T20 World Cup, which will also be played in India.
England are ranked No.1 in the T20I rankings and Kohli selected them as favorites to win the title.
Kohli said, “They are the No.1 team in the world. England will be favorites to win the T20 World Cup.”
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Among the returning players in the team is Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who returns after being injured during the IPL 2020. Bhubaneswar last played for India in December 2019, but Kohli said that the senior bowler remains an integral part of the team.
Kohli said, “He (Bhubaneswar) wants to contribute to many more Indian victories. We are very happy to have him back. I hope he will perform strongly from here on.”
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