Floating role in a sinking partnership?

Virat Kohli seems to have woken up to an elaborate plan ahead of the T20 World Cup, and KL Rahul is likely to feel the pinch

Not long ago, KL Rahul praised the ‘floating role’ for helping him learn the art of batting. He better have learnt the art of patience too because Virat Kohli seems to have woken up to an elaborate plan ahead of the T20 World Cup, and the Karnataka batsman is likely to feel the pinch.

Prior to the fifth Twenty20 International against England, the Indian skipper announced that he would open the innings alongside Rohit Sharma. Rohit scored 64. Kohli scored an unbeaten 80. The opening duo added 94 runs from 54 balls. India built on that graceful bludgeoning from two white-ball titans to post a series-clinching win on Saturday night. Brilliant.

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The skipper’s decision to replace an out of form Rahul with T Natarajan and promote himself was very Midas. But what came in the aftermath of India’s eighth successive T20I series victory was as inconsiderate as it was short-sighted.

Kohli declared, in his typically ‘it’s-obvious’ delivery, that he would like to open the innings with Rohit. Of course, when the Indian skipper says ‘he would like to’, it’s more a statement to the management than an insinuation. Basically, Kohli, the authority considered, is going to open the innings for India for some time to come.

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Tentatively, India have nine international T20Is between now and the T20 World Cup in October. Sandwiched between is the Indian Premier League, starting next month, and Kohli says he’s going to open for the Royal Challengers Bangalore too. That should be a treat!

Kohli’s penchant for experimenting with team combination is not new, and in a way, it does give the management an extended look at the bench and also what roles fit people under certain game situations.

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But it has led to the near-extinction of Kuldeep Yadav and it’s likely to drive Rahul to his end. That would be a shame for all the skill the 28-year-old has and has delivered on.

Granted this series hasn’t been his best with 15 runs in 4 games, but what is a mini-slump - if you’re inclined to look at is as harshly - when he averages upwards of 35 in each of the three formats.

Should Kohli push himself up to No.1, Rahul will need to integrate himself at No.3 or lower. By admission, that shouldn’t be a problem, but what when Kohli wants to bolster the bowling unit, play six bowlers?

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Going by Saturday night’s decisions, Rahul is likely to find himself warming the bench more and more because Kohli is not likely to forget how competitive the combination turned out last night.

Perhaps Kohli should have taken the high road as his deputy Rohit Sharma did in the post-match presentation, assuring that Rahul was still in the reckoning and maintaining that the combination wasn’t set in stone with many months left for the World Cup.

Rohit was cajoling his (ex?) opening partner, letting him know that it’s not all over just yet. That’s the empathy coach Ravi Shastri was talking about not long ago. Kohli has a thing or two to learn in that regard. Until then, Rahul will nurse sleepless nights while scouring his social-media feed to know what he did to bring upon such a nomadic role in a team that claims consistency is king.