Pros and Cons of Opening with Rohit and Kohli

The difference between India and other cricketing nations is becoming glaring with each passing day. One of the luxuries that India enjoy is the problem of plenty. But given that luxury is often limited to one-dimensional players, it is, more often than not, a headache that perhaps the already-nervy Indian contingent can do without.

One such headache going into the T20 World Cup in 2024 is the choice of opener alongside captain Rohit Sharma. There is no outright correct answer. Virat Kohli has been among the best openers in the IPL. But in his long illustrious career, he has opened for India only nine times. Though a small sample size, he has averaged the most and has been at his fastest self while batting at this spot.

On the other hand is Yashasvi Jaiswal, who, in all formats combined, has comfortably been the best batter for India in the last 12 months. Jaiswal and Shivam Dube are pretty much the only point of difference in a squad that largely resembles the one that have faced back-to-back debacles in the T20 World Cups. With Jaiswal’s spot under threat, judging by the only warm-up game India played ahead of the group stages, let us look at the two sides of the debate of opening with Rohit and Kohli.

Pros

From an overall combination perspective, opening with Kohli gives India’s batting order more variety. Assuming Suryakumar Yadav and Hardik Pandya are locks in the XI, Kohli opening for India will make room for Shivam Dube at number 5. While Dube’s hitting form deserted him in the last five games of the IPL this year, it would be harsh to ignore his returns in the league and international T20s since 2023. Moreover, his superior spin games would act as the much-needed catalyst in a line-up with a history of being choked by spin.

If we go by numbers, Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya, and Ravindra Jadeja are far from being brutal against spin. Expecting them to dig India out of a hole would require them to do something they haven't done at this level in their entire career so far. Dube can thus potentially share the burden of taking India to an above-par total with SKY.

The other obvious advantage of Dube’s presence is an additional bowling option for India. While the gratuitous impact player rule ensured Dube has not been rolling his arm over in the IPL, he has chipped in with the ball every time he has taken the field for India. Going with Pandya’s bowling form in the IPL and his tryst with untimely injuries, India would want to be prepared for the ill-fated scenario of their vice-captain not being able to bowl. Based on the bowling form of Dube and Hardik, India can also experiment with the scenario of including Axar in place of the third frontline pacer to bolster their batting further on a turning track. 

Potential XIs with India opening with Rohit-Kohli

1. Pace-heavy, long tail

Rohit, Kohli, Pant/Samson, SKY, Dube, Hardik, Jadeja, Kuldeep, Bumrah, Siraj, Arshdeep

2. Spin-heavy, long tail

Rohit, Kohli, Pant/Samson, SKY, Dube, Hardik, Jadeja, Chahal, Kuldeep, Bumrah, Siraj/Arshdeep

3. Spin-heavy, short tail

Rohit, Kohli, Pant/Samson, SKY, Dube, Hardik, Jadeja, Axar, Kuldeep, Bumrah, Siraj/Arshdeep

Cons

Kohli and Rohit opening would mean no place for Jaiswal. It is harsh because the left-hander has been the second-highest run-getter after SKY for India in T20Is since the last World Cup. Not just that, he has scored at a rate of 161.9 at this level, which, among those with a minimum of 200 runs in this period, is bettered by only Rinku Singh (176.2).

By losing Jaiswal, India will also be going in with an untested pair of openers. As mentioned earlier, Kohli has opened for India only nine times. And even on those nine occasions, Rohit has been his partner only once. Let us look at where the Rohit-Kohli pair might struggle.

While Rohit and Kohli have been the best Indian batters of this generation, the same has not been reflected in their performance while they are batting together. As a pair, the duo have struck at a rate of 133.7 in all T20Is, which is the slowest for both of them compared to when they have batted with anyone else who has represented India in the previous two World Cups. In times when the strike rate numbers are only going up, their numbers as a pair have regressed to 129.1 since 2016 and 126.8 since 2021.

For Rohit, the balls per boundary record in a partnership has been among the worst when he has batted alongside Kohli. For Kohli, the highest dot-ball% in a partnership has been while batting with Rohit. He has also averaged more with almost every other batter than Rohit since 2016. In a nutshell, while being brutal in their respective forte, the duo have not complemented each other.

The obvious line of attack against the Rohit-Kohli pair would be spin, especially the one that turns away from the right-handers. The duo have struck at a lowly 118.8 against spin as a pair in T20Is. Since 2016 and 2021, this number has dipped to 112.4 and 107.2, respectively.

Due to the lack of any data on them opening together, we can take a nuanced approach of looking at their numbers as a pair in the powerplay. And the result is unsatisfactory. A strike rate of 128.6 is obsolete in the modern day. It is also the lowest for Rohit than what he has had with most other batters in this phase. As with other numbers, this has been down to 123.3 since 2016 and 127.2 since 2021. The culprit here is left-arm pace that has troubled both batters to some extent. 

Do you know which Indian batter has had the best strike rate against spin throughout the innings and left-arm pace in the powerplay since 2021?

Yashasvi Jaiswal.

So, for what it's worth, India are relying on the credentials of Rohit and Kohli as openers individually while not dwelling too much on whether they will click as a pair. Given four group-stage matches that are as good as practice games leading up to the Super 8s, India can afford to experiment until they nail down the XI that works for them.

Potential XI with Rohit-Jaiswal as the opener

1. Pace heavy, long tail

Rohit, Jaiswal, Kohli, SKY, Samson/Pant, Hardik, Jadeja, Kuldeep, Bumrah, Siraj, Arshdeep

2. Spin heavy, long tail

Rohit, Jaiswal, Kohli, SKY, Samson/Pant, Hardik, Jadeja, Kuldeep, Bumrah, Chahal, Siraj/Arshdeep

3. Batting heavy

Rohit, Jaiswal, Kohli, SKY, Samson/Pant, Dube, Hardik, Jadeja, Kuldeep, Bumrah, Siraj/Arshdeep 

4. Spin heavy, short tail

Rohit, Jaiswal, Kohli, SKY, Samson/Pant, Hardik, Jadeja, Axar, Kuldeep, Bumrah, Siraj/Arshdeep