Former India opener Krishnamachari Srikkanth reckons that it’s high time for the Indian skipper, Virat Kohli looks beyond the veteran opener, Shikhar Dhawan as an opener in T20Is as the left-handed batsman hasn’t been able to provide the team with the firepower required at the top of the order in the shortest format of the game.

In his column for Times of India, Srikkanth wrote: “The hosts (India)…need to slot KL Rahul firmly as an opener and look beyond Dhawan.”

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In the past few months, Dhawan has been struggling in the limited-overs format barring a few innings. He was also ruled out of the current Indian squad participating in the three-match T20I series against the West Indies after he suffered a deep cut on his left knee during the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and subsequently underwent surgery. He has now been replaced by the young Sanju Samson.

In 2019, the 34-year-old southpaw has not been at his best and has scored 272 runs in the 12 T20Is he played for India.

Talking about the same, Srikkhanth added, “The need of the hour is instant firepower and that’s one area where India are lacking. Of course, there is (Virat) Kohli and other talents to makeup but that might not be enough on the big day, as the team has found out in many ICC tournaments over the last few years.”

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With eyes on next year’s T20 World Cup, the Indian team will be desperate to sort out their opening issues and make sure they have enough firepower when they travel to Australia. However, in the absence of Dhawan, the Indian opener, Kl Rahu expected to do well in the ongoing three-match T20I series against West Indies.