WI vs IND: Rohit Sharma explains why team India is trying different openers in T20Is

West Indies and India locked horns in the second T20I at Warner Park in St Kitts on August 1, Monday. West Indies skipper Nicholas Pooran won the toss and put India in to bat. India made one change with fast bowler Avesh Khan coming in for spinner Ravi Bishnoi.

India have tried out several different combinations for opening the innings in the format this year especially during the absence of Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul. Speaking about changes in batting positions, Rohit, ahead of the match, said that the team wants the batters to bat in any order and be versatile with the lineup. 

“We want the guys to be able to bat anywhere and don’t want them to be batting in specific positions,” said Rohit at the toss. “We want the guys to be flexible, there are two ways to look at it depending on certain players,” he added.

Rohit and Suryakumar Yadav open yet again

Rahul, one of India’s regular openers across formats, has been out of the team due to a groin injury since before the start of the home T20I series against South Africa in June. During the England tour in July, Rohit and Rishabh Pant opened together and Suryakumar Yadav batted in the middle-order in the T20I series. 

However, in the first T20I against West Indies, Rohit opened alongside Suryakumar; and India have persisted with the pairing for the second T20I. In the first match, the opening stand put on 44 runs before Suryakumar was dismissed for 24 runs off 16 balls in the fifth over. Rohit, on the other hand, was the top scorer with 64 runs off 44 balls.

India finished with 190 for the loss of six wickets in 20 overs, thanks to a blistering cameo by Dinesh Karthik, who scored an unbeaten 41 runs off 19 balls in the back end of the innings. West Indies, with a stiff chase in hand, were off to a slow start as they scored 42 runs for the loss of three wickets in the powerplay.

None of the Windies batters went past a score of 20, and consequently, they managed to put up only 122 for the loss of eight wickets in 20 overs. And Karthik was given the Player of the Match award for his performance with the bat.