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There continues to remain a big dilemma over Team India’s opening combination for the T20 World Cup 2024. While Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal have opened together in the past, Virat Kohli’s IPL 2024 heroics as an opening batter have given the team management a big headache. As far as former India captain Sourav Ganguly is concerned, Kohli remains the best bet as Rohit’s opening partner. Ganguly, who has also worked as BCCI’s president, wants Virat to bat with the same freedom he showed during the IPL.

“I would open with Virat and Rohit. I want Virat to bat the way he did for RCB in the second half of the IPL. He has to bat with freedom. Needless to say, he is a great player, but for India to do well, Virat will have to bat with freedom like he did in the IPL. So my choice would be Virat and Rohit at the top of the order,” Ganguly told Revsportz.

Team India last won an ICC event in 2013, and their last T20 World Cup triumph came in the inaugural edition of the tournament in 2007. Repeated unsuccessful stints in ICC events have dampened the spirits of fans, with many questioning if India should even be considered among the favourites for this year’s T20 World Cup.

Ganguly, however, feels Rohit’s men are serious contenders.

“Absolutely, I do. The team has a number of quality players and are going into the tournament on the back of some serious T20 cricket in the form of the IPL. That should help them in New York. What will also go in their favour are the bigger grounds, and it will help our spinners, for example. In a World Cup, you can never rule out India just because of the simple reason there is a lot of quality in the team,” Ganguly asserted.