T20 World Cup 2022: The teams with the deadliest opening duo in this World Cup for England, Pakistan, and India

Fast starts will be significant for laying a solid foundation at ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2022. With five days left for the mega-tournament to begin, all the teams are set with the best players they could have to form a solid playing XI. As it's the T20 format, we can expect the best batters prepared to plunder runs from the top of the order.

So here we'll look at the three teams with their opening pairs who will be in their deadliest form for the upcoming World Cup.

Mohammad Rizwan- Babar Azam (Pakistan)

Mohammad Rizwan and Babar Azam are two of the most prolific batters of the T20 format and occupy two of the top three spots in the ICC T20I batting rankings. 

Both have scored more runs together in T20Is than any other opening pair and are in ominous form after their recent performances in England and Asia Cup. They were also two of the top three run-scorers in last year's ICC T20 World Cup in UAE. 

Skipper Babar Azam ended his struggle in Asia Cup with an impressive average of 57 and a strike rate of 143.21 against England. Mohammad Rizwan has enjoyed his dream run in T20Is since the Asia Cup. In the seven-match series against England, he was the leading run-scorer with an average of 63.2 and a strike rate of 138.59. 

Their partnership has even won Pakistan many matches with ten wickets. A good campaign for the two openers will be crucial for Pakistan's chances to advance in the tournament.

KL Rahul- Rohit Sharma (India)

India's batting unit looks to be in great rhythm lately, especially the top four batters, as seen in the Asia Cup. KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma have been one of the most devastating opening pairs in the shortest format for nearly five years. They are among those players whose knock can give India a fair amount of chance to move ahead in the tournament. They will probably be the only two senior batters in the line-up. 

KL Rahul was the leading run-scorer for India in UAE last year. Skipper Rohit Sharma's opening chart has been a little inconsistent in the past few innings, but as he has the pedigree of scoring runs heavily at such mega tournaments, we might see some strong performances from the opening pair in T20 World Cup 2022. 

Phil Salt/ Alex Hales- Jos Buttler (England)

England has already warned other participating teams in the World Cup after winning the seven-match T20I series against Pakistan despite their key players missing. 

With Jos Buttler on the road to recovery and Jonny Bairstow ruled out of the tournament, England played Alex Hales and Phil Salt as the opening pair. Youngster Phil Salt smashed 167 runs with a strike rate of 157.57, whereas Veteran Alex Hales scored 130 with a strike rate of 141.30. 

It is still unknown who amongst both will open alongside Jos Buttler. It is more likely that veteran Alex Hales will grab the spot owing to his vast experience in Big Bash League. On the other hand, we have already witnessed the destruction that Jos Buttler caused while opening IPL 2022.