Not KL Rahul, Ex-Pakistan Star Wants This Player To Open With Rohit Sharma in Asia Cup Clash

With the Asia Cup starting in just over two weeks' time, it will be a valuable opportunity for all the teams to test themselves against the best ahead of the 2022 T20 World Cup in Australia. The Indian cricket team and the Pakistan cricket face each other on August 28 in a Group A match at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. The last time the two teams faced each other, at the 2021 T20 World Cup, the Babar Azam-led Pakistan beat India comprehensively. Virat Kohli was the India skipper then, but now Rohit Sharma is at the helm of the side.

All eyes will be on Rohit, not just as the skipper, but as a star opener as well. The start that he and the other opener can provide will be crucial for India. Vice-captain KL Rahul, who is returning from an injury, looks to be the front-runner to partner him at the top. However, former Pakistan cricket team spinner Danish Kaneria has suggested a different name.

"Woth Rohit Sharma, I would like Suryakumar Yadav to continue as opener. His consistency with Rohit has been brilliant as opener. KL Rahul is coming back into the team. I want him to stay down order. He has batted in different situations and he has scored runs in all situations as well. So, I want Surya and Rohit to open," Danish Kaneria said in a video on his YouTube channel.

Though Yadav has mostly batted at No. 3 or 4 positions, he was promoted as an opener in the recently-concluded T20I series against West Indies. His scores in the series were - 24, 11, 76, 24.

India's squad for Asia Cup: Rohit Sharma (Captain), KL Rahul (vice-captain), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Dinesh Karthik (wicket-keeper), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, R. Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ravi Bishnoi, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh, Avesh Khan. Three players Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel and Deepak Chahar have been named as standbys.

Topics mentioned in this article

India Cricket Team Pakistan Cricket Team Danish Kaneria Virat Kohli Rohit Sharma Suryakumar Yadav Asia Cup, 2022 Cricket