"It's just a generational thing" - Rohan Gavaskar on Rohit, Kohli and Rahul needing to follow the batting template Team India had in the 1st T20I

Rohan Gavaskar feels the likes of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and KL Rahul will be required to follow the same batting template Team India displayed in the first T20I against South Africa.

The Rishabh Pant-led Indian side posted a huge total of 211/4 on the board after being asked to bat first by the Proteas. Almost all the Indian batters played an attacking brand of cricket from the word go and did not take much time to get their eye in.

During an interaction on Sports 18, Rohan was asked if Rohit, Kohli and Rahul will be required to employ the same batting strategy once they return to the Indian lineup. He responded:

"I think they need to and having said that, I think they have the ability to do it. When you talk about Virat and Rohit, you are talking about the greats of this generation, absolutely chock-full of talent and ability, it's just the mindset. It's just a generational thing."

The former Indian all-rounder pointed out that the game has evolved over the last few years. Rohan explained:

"This has happened throughout cricket. If you look at ODIs in the mid-80s, 220 could be a match-winning score. Now you see 200 gets chased down in T20 cricket. You look at this T20 squad of ours, most of the batters would have started playing T20 cricket in the last five or six years."

Rahul has often been criticized for his slightly defensive approach, especially in the powerplay overs. Kohli and Rohit also struggled to force the pace in IPL 2022 and the trio will have to raise their game for Team India to have a good run in the T20 World Cup later this year.

---

"That's what is going to be the template for T20 cricket from now on" - Rohan Gavaskar on India's batting in the 1st T20I

Ishan Kishan gave a flying start to Team India in the company of Ruturaj Gaikwad [P/C: BCCI]

Rohan was also asked about his views on Team India's batting display in the first T20I. He replied:

Absolutely loved it. That's what is going to be the template for T20 cricket from now on. When you have a look at the Indian innings, forget Dinesh Karthik because he played only a couple of deliveries, but Shreyas Iyer had the lowest strike rate and it was in the mid-130s.

The cricketer-turned-commentator concluded by stating that India's innings followed a better template than that of South Africa. Rohan observed:

"Now, that's a phenomenal T20 innings. In fact, I will go as much as to say that our T20 innings was better than the South African T20 innings, even though South Africa won. This is how you want your team to play. South Africa won simply because they had an outstanding performance from David Miller. But as a template, ours was top-notch."

David Miller, with his unbeaten 64 off 31 balls, was the game-changer for South Africa. Although Rassie van der Dussen top-scored with a 46-ball unbeaten 75, the right-hander was circumspect at the start and only gathered momentum towards the latter stages of his innings.

---