India are showing signs of drifting away from their T20 blueprint, in place for the past 14 months, by bringing in Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli back into the fold.With their presence, two of the three in India’s top-order — which was identified as a problematic area — are back in the XI. Word around is that injuries to Ruturaj Gaikwad and Suryakumar Yadav opened up spots for the return of Rohit and Kohli, who as reported by this newspaper wanted to get back into the T20 fold.
In successive T20 World Cups, India’s hard learned lesson was that their top three were too slow. They had experienced it first hand during the 2021 edition, but still repeated in 2022. They course corrected since, identifying what they lacked at the top and searching for batsmen who could provide the impetus for the middle-order.
Between the two, Kohli has been prolific in the IPL and has only had three seasons where he hasn’t touched 400-run mark. But when it comes to strike-rate, this is how he has scored in the last four seasons: 121.35, 119.46, 115.99 and 139.82.
The three-match series against Afghanistan – a team filled with ace T20 spinners – beginning Thursday would offer a reality check as to where Rohit and Kohli stand in terms of the shortest format. Whatever it is, this discussion will get only hotter in the summer.
