IND vs WI 2022: “Changes are happening because India want to fit Virat Kohli in the XI” - Parthiv Patel on Team India’s batting experiments

Former keeper-batter Parthiv Patel has made an interesting observation regarding the constant experiments being made in the Indian team. He claimed that the Men in Blue are trying various permutations and combinations to ensure that Virat Kohli fits into the playing XI.

There have been question marks over the former Indian captain’s place in the team, especially in the T20 format, as India have been shuffling the batting order. Rishabh Pant opened in England, while Suryakumar Yadav walked out to bat with Rohit Sharma in the first T20I against the West Indies on Friday (July 29).

Asked for his views on the Men in Blue making unexpected changes in the batting order, Patel told Cricbuzz:

“Whatever changes we are seeing are happening because India want to fit Virat Kohli in the XI.”

He also opined that Kohli missed a good opportunity to find some form by skipping the West Indies tour. Patel elaborated:

“I would have liked Virat Kohli to play the one-day series. It’s an easier option to come back into form. There are 50 overs and a lot of time, where you can get your 70-80 runs like Shikhar Dhawan or Shubman Gill did, at a run-a-ball.”

There were mixed reactions to the decision to rest Kohli for the entire Windies series, considering his poor form. Captain Rohit Sharma, Pant and Hardik Pandya, who were given a break for the one-dayers, joined the squad for the T20Is. All three featured in the opening game of the five-match series on Friday.

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“We might see Suryakumar opening in the entire series” - Parthiv Patel

While a few fans and critics were surprised with India’s decision to open with Yadav, Parthiv Patel wasn’t among them.

He referred to Sharma’s pre-match talk, where the Indian captain made it clear that the team wanted to try out a few things. Talking about the constant changes, the former player said:

“Rohit Sharma said in the pre-match conference, ‘we know there are holes to fill, and that is the reason why we are going to try different things’. They did that with Rishabh Pant, giving him a full series in England. Now, we might see Suryakumar opening in the entire series. We might see Ravindra Jadeja bowling in the powerplay, just to see what he can produce.”

Yadav, who had a poor one-day series, looked good during his stay in the first T20I. He slammed three fours and a six but was dismissed for 24 off 16, trying to take on Akeal Hosein.