‘Ideal time’ to open with Rohit – Virat Kohli

Rohit, an established opener in India’s limited-overs sides, will open the batting in Test cricket for the first time in the opening Test at Visakhapatnam, having primarily spent his previous 27 Test appearances in the middle order.

While Rohit has been a success in coloured clothing – he hit five hundreds at this year’s 2019 ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup – his Test career has seen him in and out of the Indian line-up since his debut in November 2013.

“It’s been discussed for a long time now,” admitted Kohli when going over the discussion to use Rohit as a long-form opener.

“We felt like down the order, it was about finding a spot wherever possible, which wasn't working both ways. For Rohit as well, I think clarity of role and knowing that, you know, you have to play in a certain position also is very crucial for a player.

"For us and the management together, the communication happened a long while back. But we could not see a situation where that could happen in a match. But now we have a situation where the opportunity is there. So we thought it's the ideal time to go ahead with it because we have spoken about it.

"And in one-day cricket, it was the same. He played in the middle order, but then suddenly, opening conversations happened and within six to eight months, he was opening the innings and you know what happened afterwards. So look, it's very exciting for him, for the whole team, If he can do what he's done in one-day cricket at the top in red-ball cricket, then obviously, it's a great thing for him and Indian cricket.”

When discussing what type of opener Rohit might act as, Kohli said that the 32-year-old will be allowed to shape his own game at the top of the order, but did declare that Rohit has the ability to display the same level of aggression that former India opener Virender Sehwag exhibited during his career.

"In Test cricket it’s about finding your game in different conditions,” said Kohli. “Sometimes in India, on day one, if the pitch is good to bat on, you might be playing more shots than you would in South Africa, New Zealand, England. But having said that we’re not looking at a certain kind of display of batting from Rohit. It’s about him finding his game at the top. And yes, his [Rohit’s] strength is to take the game forward. So if he [can bat] like someone like Viru bhai [Sehwag] used to do for the team for a long period – it's not like someone would have told him, you need to go and attack, or you need to get a hundred before lunch. Basically, his natural instinct took over. Once he felt comfortable with his game, he could demolish attacks and really put the team in pole position.

"So I'm sure, in time, as Rohit grows into that role, he will be able to do that because he definitely has the ability to do that. As I said, we are rushing him in no way to do that from innings one or innings two. It's about him feeling comfortable as to when he can do it. And that's been his strength, you won't see Rohit following the template of a [Cheteshwar] Pujara whose strength is totally different.

"It's about finding your own balance, finding your own game, we're not necessarily looking forward to one kind of mode from him at the top. It totally depends on the situation. If the wicket is challenging and we are three down and he is still in, obviously you won't see him smashing the ball all over the place. He’s a mature cricketer, is smart enough to understand what the situation demands. He and the whole team is looking forward to him playing his natural game whenever he feels absolutely comfortable in that spot.”