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Virat Kohli can score 40-ball 100, claims Sourav Ganguly; makes huge suggestion for Indian star ahead of T20 World Cup
Sourav Ganguly, the former India captain and Indian cricket board president, has expressed his desire for Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli to begin India's innings in the T20 World Cup in June.
Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli should be India's openers in the T20 World Cup in June. That is the perspective of former BCCI president and India captain Sourav Ganguly. With little more than a week until the selectors meet to select India's 15-member squad for the marquee event, Ganguly was asked about the players who should board the flight to the United States and the Caribbean during a media interaction organized by Delhi Capitals on Monday — he is the IPL franchise's mentor.
Sourav Ganguly thinks “Rohit and Virat should open”
Virat Kohli is capable of scoring a 40-ball-100 like Travis Head, and he should open the batting with India captain Rohit Sharma in the next T20 World Cup in the Americas, former captain Sourav Ganguly stated on Monday. Kohli recently scored a 67-ball-100 against the Rajasthan Royals, but he got criticism for his strike rate at a time when other teams' openers need 39 to 50 balls to reach three figures.
Ganguly said during a media interaction, “Virat Kohli has got the capability of getting a 40-ball 100 also. As I said at the start, India, with the talent they have, you just need to go and hit. Mindset should be to hit and then we'll see what happens after 5-6 overs.”
While Ganguly would like the selection committee, coach Rahul Dravid, and Rohit to make selections in the best interests of the team during the T20 World Cup, he would prefer to see the Kohli-Rohit opening combination.
"If you ask me and it's just my personal opinion and I'm not saying that the selectors should do it, because at the end of the day, it's their call, Rohit and Virat should open,” Ganguly went on to say.
Sourav Ganguly speaks his mind on young talents
Citing MS Dhoni as an example, Ganguly further dismissed the notion that T20 cricket is primarily for young people and explained why he did not participate in the initial event in 2007.
“We (Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly ) did not decide it. It’s nothing about young and old. It’s about how good you are. And that is important. There is no hard and fast rule for anything. The only hard and fast rule is talent, ability and performance. That is it. You look at MS Dhoni. He bats for two overs and hits four sixes. I would want him to bat more but just see how good he is.”
With T20 cricket scoring rates steadily rising and numerous young Indian hitters demonstrating the ability to meet the format's changing demands, it might be argued that India should have a completely younger side like they did when they won the first T20 World Cup in 2007.
Ganguly's tenure as BCCI president barely ended when India lost the semis to England in the 2022 T20 World Cup in Australia. The criticism in the aftermath focused on India's stodgy approach with the bat and the pressing need to alter their style of play.
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