T20 World Cup 2022: The first choices for India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka

It is essential for a team batting to get off to a quick start, although, as we will soon see, it's not always a given. 

With that in mind, let us look at the opening pairs for India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka and analyse how they approach the game. 

India – KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma 

The Indian opening pairing has been set in stone for quite some time now and will be unchanged going into the T20 World Cup 2022. Rohit and Rahul have struggled with the form at different times of the year, but as the recent series against Australia and South Africa indicated, both have also hit form at the right time. 

India's current template is to be aggressive from the get-go, and that is something both openers embody. One of the reasons Rohit did not get as many runs was his tendency to always go for big shots; his strike rate was reasonable, but his average suffered. 

Rahul, who is generally seen as an accumulator, has also taken to the new template and begun playing more aggressively – even at the risk of getting out. It bodes well for India if these two can maintain their form going into the World Cup. 

Sri Lanka – Pathum Nissanka and Kusal Mendis

This duo was tasked with opening the innings during Sri Lanka's victorious Asia Cup 2022 campaign and did a decent job of what they were asked to do. However, it is safe to say neither of them is the most attacking of batsmen, although Mendis can consistently hit a long ball. 

Of the two, Nissanka is the less aggressive one, which is reflected in his T20I strike rate of 115.58. Mendis is slightly more aggressive, as seen in his T20I strike rate of 126.47 and a T20 strike rate of 135.24. 

Their main job is to lay a solid foundation for the team before the bigger hitters – Dhananjaya de Silva, Danushka Gunathalika, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, and Dasun Shanaka – come in and play more aggressively. 

Pakistan – Mohammad Rizwan and Babar Azam 

The opening pair of Pakistan presents an interesting problem. On one hand, Rizwan and Babar can get runs for fun atop the order. However, their strike rates have come under the scanner numerous times, and, to make things worse, Babar's recent form has been poor. 

However, there's a simple explanation for why they prefer to bat slow – Pakistan's middle order has been shaky for quite some time. that is why they dropped Fakhar Zaman and brought in Shan Masood – who had never played a T20I before the seven-match series against England. 

Nevertheless, Pakistan's fate depends hugely on its openers. If they score big, Pakistan tends to win more often than not. If one or both fail, their middle order isn't sufficient to save them from a collapse.