Deep Dasgupta, who played cricket for India in the past, has said that Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul are his top choices to open the batting for India in the ICC Twenty20 World Cup. This comes at a time when there is continuous discussion over whom Rohit Sharma would open the batting with, which has been going on for the last couple of series.
On the other hand, the former wicket-keeper batsman offers a novel recommendation regarding the choice of the backup opener. He believes that Prithvi Shaw of the Delhi Capitals, who is a swashbuckling opener, might be the third opener for the tournament.
The curious case of Prithvi Shaw. Despite being a part of the Test squad in England tour during 2021, he suddenly seems nowhere near the Indian squad in all three formats.
Surely he isn't that bad to miss out on the Zimbabwe tour? #ZIMvIND
— Sameer Allana (@HitmanCricket) July 30, 2022
What did Deep Dasgupta say?
This is what he shared on the YouTube account for CricTracker: “K.L. Rahul and Rohit Sharma are the two players I would choose first [for the Twenty20 World Cup]. You may want to consider using someone like Prithvi Shaw, who has been very successful in that opening spot and provides you with a new skill set, as a third opener in your batting order. When he opens, he may not be able to offer you scores in the 70s, 80s, or hundreds, but he can get you off to a good start.”
He added: “If you look at Ishan’s (Kishan’s) performance in the internationals, he’s done okay for himself. He had a good start, but he has been struggling a little bit in the previous few games.”
Ishan Kishan has been warming the bench for the Men in Blue for the last few Twenty20 Internationals, whilst Prithvi Shaw is now not in the scheme of things for the Men in Blue.
India's former fielding coach R Sridhar said, "Prithvi Shaw makes bowlers look absolutely silly. He's got great hands. The reason why he's fallen down in the pecking order is his fitness". (To Cricket Com).
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) July 29, 2022
For instance, Shaw had not played for India since their match against Sri Lanka in July of the previous year. In the lone Twenty20 International that the Men in Blue played, he was unfortunately run out without scoring a run. However, he had a successful season in the Indian Premier League in 2022, scoring 283 runs in 10 matches at an outstanding strike rate of 152.97.
Additionally, the teenager had a respectable run in the Ranji Trophy, during which he led Mumbai from the front. The player has a batting average of 35.50 throughout the course of six games, scoring 355 runs. He was the team’s captain and guided them to the championship game when they were soundly defeated by Madhya Pradesh.
In the meantime, Kishan has amassed 532 runs over the course of 18 games with an average of 31.29. In any case, it seems like Prithvi Shaw has been eliminated from consideration for the Twenty20 World Cup selection.
