Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma have brought their long T20I careers to an end as India lifted the T20 World Cup 2024 trophy by defeating South Africa in Barbados on Saturday.
Rohit played his first T20I for India in 2007 and since then he played 159 T20Is for the country scoring 4,231 runs at an average of 32.05. As for Kohli, he played his first T20I in 2010 and played 125 matches and scored 4,188 runs averaging 48.69.
Rohit-Kohli were permanent in T20Is for India but speculations about the players’ abilities in this format had begun after the T20 World Cup 2022. Even in the 2024 edition of the T20 World Cup, there were calls to change the opening pair during the event.
Despite the backlash and criticism, the opening batters remained the same and Kohli with his 76 off 59 in the final against South Africa aided India in lifting the title.
However, as the pair has bid fairly to T20I cricket, it has sparked a debate over which batters can replace the veteran opening pair of Rohit-Kohli in T20I cricket for India.
Here are some players that the Indian selectors can consider for the role of an opening batter;
Yashasvi Jaiswal
Since the T20 World Cup 2022, Yashasvi Jaiswal has opened the batting for India a total of 16 times for India making him the batter with the most innings as an opener during the two years. He was also named in the Indian squad for the T20 World Cup 2024 with the intention of a spare opener.
He already opens for India in Test cricket, he has an average of 33 in T20Is with a strike rate of 161.
Shubman Gill
For cricket fans and experts, Gill is not just a good candidate to replace Rohit-Kohli, but also a perfect candidate to replace Rohit as the captain of India in the shorter format. He has also been named captain of India’s squad for the Zimbabwe tour although his stint as Gujarat Titans (GT) captain in the Indian Premier League (IPL) didn’t bode well for him or the franchise. The fact that he already opens for India in the ODI is just the icing on the cake.
Abhishek Sharma
Abhishek Sharma is yet to play an international match for India but the youngster has represented his country in the U19 side playing the role of a left-arm spinning all-rounder and batted in the middle order. Although, he has done wonders as an openers in the recent years of IPL scoring 710 runs at a strike rate of 180. He has been called up for the senior team for the Zimbabwe tour.
Sanju Samson
Sanju Samson does have experience but he has just opened the innings once for India in the warm-up game against Bangladesh before the T20 World Cup 2024 began. Overall in his career, he has opened the innings on 44 occasions.
However, he has been unable to earn a spot in India’s middle order, he can be a good choice for the opening slot as he is experienced in comparison to the younger players.
KL Rahul
The last player in the list is KL Rahul who is perhaps the most experienced to replace Rohit-Kohli for the opening slot. He has played 72 matches scoring 2,265 runs averaging 37.75 at a strike rate of 139.12 and a highest score of 110 not out.
Rahul has been off the radar since the T20 World Cup 2022, but he has a reputation for performing on big occasions just as he did in the Cricket World Cup scoring 452 runs at an average of 75.33.