"We've got options" Rahul Dravid opens up on Virat Kohli vs Yashasvi Jaiswal debate ahead of IND vs IRE

Rahul Dravid was asked about Rohit Sharma’s opening partner in the ICC T20 World Cup 2024.

Two days out from India’s opening game of the ICC T20 World Cup 2024, head coach Rahul Dravid still refused to confirm who will be the opening partner of Rohit Sharma in his side’s first match of the tournament against Ireland.

The Asian giants will kick off their campaign on June 5 against Ireland in New York. But the fans are not yet certain of who will be India’s second opener between Virat Kohli and Yashasvi Jaiswal.

By India’s decision-making in their only warm-up game against Bangladesh, it seems that Kohli will open along with Rohit and Jaiswal will be benched. The young left-hander didn’t bat in the warm-up fixture; Sanju Samson opened with Rohit, while Rishabh Pant batted at number 3 because Kohli was rested.

Samson was dismissed for only one run, whereas Pant cracked a fifty and has likely sealed his place as the wicket-keeper. If India open with Kohli and Rohit, they can play either Shivam Dube or Sanju Samson in the middle-order. Jaiswal didn’t have a great Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 season, where he managed only two fifty-plus scores.

Virat opened in the IPL as well: Rahul Dravid

Speaking in the press conference on Monday, Dravid did not confirm the second opener, though he did mention that Kohli has opened in the IPL.

The head coach was quoted by PTI as saying, “We’ve got options, so we are obviously not going to reveal our cards just yet, but certainly we’ve got options. We have Rohit and Jaiswal and Virat opened in the IPL as well.”

“We’ve got options, so we are obviously not going to reveal our cards just yet, but certainly we’ve got options. We have Rohit and Jaiswal and Virat opened in the IPL as well.”

The head coach also refused to make any complaint about the pitch at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium. The surface in New York has been challenging for the batters. Sri Lanka were bowled out for 77 and South Africa took 16.2 overs to chase it down.

“We had three practice sessions here. From the third session onwards, the wicket became better. But a wicket is a wicket. We don’t want to label it as bad or good. It is a wicket and you have to manage and you have to adjust to it. So we will not complain about the wicket,” Dravid asserted.

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