Review On Team India T20I Squad Opening Changes After Rohit Sharma's Retirement

It would not be wrong to say that after the retirement of legendary players Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli from the shorter format of the game, there were concerns about whether the Indian team would be able to play like World champions in the upcoming games before the marquee T20 World Cup 2026, which will be hosted in India and Sri Lanka. However, since the retirement of ace players, the Men in Blue are seen as completely different under the leadership of new captain and coach, Surykumar Yadav and Gautam Gambhir, where they have won 2 series beating Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka at their place. Irrespective of that, the debut coach and captain joined the team in the Sri Lanka series. But, the aggressive intent of the Indian team was visible in the series against Zimbabwe.

Through this article, we are going to review Team India T20I squad Opening Changes After the retirement of Rohit Sharma from the shorter format of the game.

Opening Options

1. Abhishek Sharma

After the retirement of Rohit Sharma from the shorter format of the game, the opening option is opened for many batters to prove themselves and open the innings for the Indian team. Looking at this opportunity, the Indian team management has been seen trying different batters to see their ability for the team before next year's World Cup. In the Zimbabwe series, they went with Sunrisers Hyderabad's star batter Abhishek Sharma, with vice-captain Shubman Gill, where he showed his prowess by scoring a ton in the 2nd game of his career. However, after that one game, he failed to show his consistency, which is one of the reasons he got ignored for the Sri Lanka tour.

In the Zimbabwe series, Abhishek Sharma scored 124 runs in 5 games with an average of 31, having 1 hundred to his name on a strike rate of 174.

2. Ruturaj Gaikwad

Another option that Men in Blue have gone to in recent times is Ruturaj Gaikwad, who is one of the young players who has performed every time whenever he is given a chance, whether, it’s as an opener or as a middle-order batter. He has proved himself in every place. However, it would not be wrong to say that the Indian team is not yet impressed by the CSK captain, as he has not been picked in the ongoing series against Sri Lanka.

Gaikwad was India’s third leading run-scorer in the last series, where he finished with 133 runs in 4 games with an average of 66, having one half-century to his name. His average strike rate could be a reason why he has not been looked out for by team management and BCCI in the upcoming series.

3. Yashasvi Jaiswal

One of the probable candidates for the opening position with Shubman Gill is the young left-hand batter Yashasvi Jaiswal, who has been the talk of the town since his debut for the Indian team, whether it’s the short format or long format. This young batter has impressed everyone with his batting skills.

In June 2023, Jaiswal received his maiden call-up to India's Test squad for the series against the West Indies. He debuted in the first Test of the series, hitting a century while opening the batting with a score of 171 runs. He also received the Player of the Match award. After that, he made his T20I debut in the 3rd match of the T20I series against West Indies in August 2023, where he scored his maiden T20I half-century –84* off 51 balls – in the fourth series match while sharing a 165-run opening partnership with Gill.

However, the turning point came in Jaiswal's cricketing career when he was selected in India's squad for the 5-match Test series against England at home, where in his first Test, he scored 80 runs off just 74 balls.

In the second match of the series, he made his maiden double-century, scoring 209 runs off 290 balls in the first innings. With this, he became the third youngest Indian batsman, after Sunil Gavaskar and Vinod Kambli, to score a double hundred in Test cricket. He didn't stop his good form here in the next match, he scored another double century, becoming the third Indian batter after Vinod Kambli and Virat Kohli to hit double centuries in consecutive Test matches.

It is one of the reasons, despite his average form, he was picked up in the 15-man squad for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024.

4. Sanju Samson

Apart from these 2 players, the Indian team is also trying Sanju Samson in different positions, which we witnessed in the last match against Sri Lanka when he was sent to open the innings with Yashasvi Jaiswal in the place of Shubman Gill, who has been given rest in the 2nd match of the series where he failed to impress as he got out on the first ball on the score of a duck.