Virat Kohli should open for India in place of Ishan Kishan, says English spinner Graeme Swann

The former English off-spinner Graeme Swann said that he would like Virat Kohli to open for India in place of Ishan Kishan in the next T20I against England. Swann has said that Kohli will be better off opening the innings and that will benefit him if he goes out there straight away to open the innings and gets himself set early.

He said if this happens then it will definitely benefit India. He also said that it is not easy for Kohli to come in at number 3 and get going straight away and for this reason, Kohli is better off opening for India. Swann also clearly stated that this is purely his opinion and that he has got nothing to do with the team India selections.

"When you have got a player as good as Virat, you don’t want him batting at no. 3 in the middle overs because he is not going to score as quickly as SKY (Suryakumar Yadav) or Hooda when they first come in, that’s not his game,” said the former England spinner.

“If Rohit is batting so well at the other end and scoring quickly, Virat will follow and do the same thing. Imagine Kohli and Sharma scoring heavily at the top, then Hooda and SKY coming in,” he further said.

The last time Kohli opened for India in March 2021 in Ahmedabad, along with Rohit, where he smashed an unbeaten 80 runs off 52 balls. Yadav batted at number three in that match, which India won by 36 runs.

In the first T20I in Southampton, Rohit was dismissed for 24 and Kishan for eight. Hooda scored 33 off 17 balls and Yadav scored 39 off 19 balls. All-rounder Hardik Pandya was the top scorer with 51 off 33 balls. India finished with 198 for the loss of eight wickets and won the clash by 50 runs, in the end.