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Indian fans will have to wait a few more days to see Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli play a T20 match together as India head coach Rahul Dravid on Wednesday confirmed that Kohli will be available for the first T20I against Afghanistan in Mohali on Thursday. Will not happen. Dravid said that Kohli will not play the first match of the series due to personal reasons. It is noteworthy that today (January 11) is the third birthday of Kohli’s daughter Vamika.
However, Rohit will return as opening batsman and captain. This is the first time that Rohit will feature in a T20I after the heartbreaking defeat to England in the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup in Australia in 2022. However, its preparation was tumultuous. The chartered flight which was to take Rohit to Mohali was delayed. Realizing that he might miss his only opportunity to acclimatise to the cold conditions of Mohali before the T20I, Rohit decided to travel straight to the IS Bindra Stadium from the Chandigarh airport, reported Dainik Jagran.
The Indian captain did not go to the hotel and instead attended the practice session which started around 5 pm on Wednesday evening. After arriving an hour late, Rohit did some stretching and physical exercises before joining coach Dravid for the pitch inspection. He was then seen taking some throwdowns and discussing with the younger members of the team.
Rohit will open with Jaiswal, Gill at number 3
Dravid confirmed that Rohit will open the batting along with young Yashasvi Jaiswal. They have opened together in four Test matches but this will be their first white-ball debut as an opening pair.
“For now, we will open with Rohit and Jaiswal. When you have a team that offers flexibility, we can take decisions in the best interest of the team,” Dravid said on the eve of the match.
“We are definitely happy with what Jaiswal has done for us as an opening batsman. He also gives us a left-right combination at the top,” Dravid said.
This means that Shubman Gill will be on the bench from the second T20 match until Virat Kohli returns, unless Gill becomes a major headache for the team management by batting exceptionally at No. 3 in the series opener.
Dravid also did not completely rule out the possibility of Kohli and Rohit opening together. He said, “Nothing is closed (Kohli has opened with Rohit). We have no doubt that with the kind of ability and skill players like Rohit and Kohli have, they will be able to do that.” To find answers against different types of bowling,” Dravid said.
These three T20 matches against Afghanistan are India’s last T20 matches before the T20 World Cup. Needless to say, all eyes will be on how Indian cricket legends Rohit and Kohli perform ahead of the final clash at the ICC event.
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