T20 World Cup 2024: Virat Kohli or Yashasvi Jaiswal? Suresh Raina gives his verdict on Rohit Sharma's ideal opening partner

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New Delhi, May 31: As Team India looks to give final touches before starting its campaign in the ICC T20 World Cup 2024, a question on everyone's mind is about what will be the opening combination for the Men in Blue in the marquee competition in the USA and West Indies.

Indian selectors picked up Yashasvi Jaiswal and Virat Kohli as two opening partner options for skipper Rohit Sharma for the ninth edition of the showpiece event.

Kohli - who opened for Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the IPL 2024 - won the Orange Cap after finishing as the leading run-scorer in the competition with 714 runs under his belt. The right-handed batter from Delhi, however, bats at number three in the Indian side in the white-ball format.

Jaiswal - who had a rather dull IPL 2024 season with Rajasthan Royals - scored 435 runs, including a century, in 15 games at a strike rate of almost 156. The talented left-handed batter has only played as a designated opener in international cricket and also allows Team India to have left-and-right-hand opening combination alongside Rohit.

Former India cricketer Suresh Raina - who was the first Indian to slam a ton in T20 WC, during the 2010 T20 WC in West Indies - has given his verdict on what should be the opening pair for the Men in Blue in the Americas for the marquee tournament.

The explosive middle-order batter reckons, Kohli should continue batting at number three while young Jaiswal - who has a strike rate of 162 in T20Is - should open batting with Rohit Sharma.

"I prefer Virat to play at number 3 in the World Cup. He's a run machine. Yashasvi is in good form, and I'm sure he will do well as an opener. So, in my opinion, Virat should play at number 3," Raina told media persons on the sidelines of an event in New Delhi.

Team India will be playing a warm-up game against Bangladesh on Saturday (May 1) in New York and it will be interesting to see who will come out to bat alongside Rohit Sharma in that practice game for that will throw a hint at what could be their batting combination in the tournament.

India Squad for T20 World Cup 2024

Rohit Sharma (c), Hardik Pandya, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Sanju Samson, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd. Siraj. Reserves: Shubman Gill, Rinku Singh, Khaleel Ahmed, Avesh Khan.