Sehwag described how numerous past India leaders would be persuaded of their team-mates' views if they were in the majority, but doubted whether anybody from the current Indian squad has what it takes to persuade Kohli to change his stance.
Former Indian batsman Virender Sehwag believes that if he were a member of the current Indian team's support staff, he would try to persuade skipper Virat Kohli to bat at No. 3 in the 2021 T20 World Cup. Kohli opened alongside Rohit Sharma during the T20I series against England in March, the last time India played limited-overs cricket in which he was a part. Sehwag, on the other hand, believes that given KL Rahul's current form, he should begin with Rohit at the ICC tournament.
"If I was a part of the Indian support staff, I would definitely try and convince the captain that he is better off at No. 3. If KL Rahul opens, it will be better for us. At the end of the day, it is the batsman's call to decide the batting order, but if so many people are suggesting something, he listens. All the big captains - Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble or even MS Dhoni - if 2-3 people used to come and tell him something, he would listen to them," Sehwag said, as mentioned in a cricket news article.
In IPL 2021, Rahul was in red-hot form for Punjab Kings, scoring 626 runs in 13 games and earning the Orange Cap. The gap between him and the next in line, Ruturaj Gaikwad, is so large that the PBKS captain has a good chance of winning. With the type of destructive form, Rahul was in during PBKS' last league encounter of the season, where he struck seven fours and eight sixes in an unbeaten 98, Sehwag believes Rahul could be highly dangerous for the opponents.
"But the thing is - I doubt there's anyone who can tell Kohli that he should not open and instead bat at No. 3. That is the matter. The way KL Rahul is batting, if he opens in international cricket, and he gets the freedom to play the way he did the other evening against CSK, then he can be an extremely dangerous player," Sehwag added.
India cricket updates & IPL T20 live scores on Isports247.net!