"Gangstaa duo" - Fans react to India opening with Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma in 2024 T20 World Cup clash vs IRE

Skipper Rohit Sharma is set to open the batting with senior batter Virat Kohli in India's 2024 T20 World Cup match against Ireland in New York on Wednesday, June 5. Yashasvi Jaiswal, the other designated opener, was left out of the playing XI.

Opening the innings for the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in the recently concluded IPL 2024, Kohli looked in stellar form. The seasoned campaigner finished as the winner of the Orange Cap, amassing 741 runs across 15 innings at a strike rate of 154.69.

Kohli has a fantastic record as an opener in T20Is as well. He has 400 runs to his name from nine innings at an average of 57.14 and a strike rate of 161.29 batting at the top of the order.

Following the announcement of the playing XI, several fans took to social media, expressing their excitement over Virat Kohli opening the batting. Here are some of the top reactions:

Several Team India supporters were delighted with the prospect of seeing Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli opening together at the showpiece event.

"Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli are opening together in the World Cup. Cherish these moments as these two will be gone very soon," wrote a fan.

"Let's go rohirat opening krenge. Come on," commented another.

"Rohit and virat kohli opening. Gangsta duo yaaaaa we are ready guyssss," chimed in yet another.

It is worth mentioning that Virat Kohli did not feature in India's only warm-up match of the 2024 T20 World Cup against Bangladesh. Sanju Samson was Rohit Sharma's opening partner in the fixture. However, the keeper-batter didn't find a place in the team's starting XI for the opening encounter of the ICC event.

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Rohit Sharma won the toss for India and chose to field first in 2024 T20 World Cup clash against Ireland

Team India skipper Rohit Sharma won the toss and elected to field first against Ireland. Explaining his decision, here's what he said at the toss:

"We're going to bowl. Preparations have been alright. Have been managing ourselves in these new conditions. Has been challenging but we are all professionals. We played on a similar pitch and do know what to expect a little bit. I know it's going to be slightly different from what we're used to. But that's what the sport is. Not sure about the conditions too much, so thought having a target in front of us would be good. Guys missing out are Kuldeep, Sanju, Jaiswal and one more."

Here are the playing XIs for the IND vs IRE 2024 T20 World Cup match:

IND: Rohit Sharma(c), Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant(w), Suryakumar Yadav, Shivam Dube, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, and Mohammed Siraj.

IRE: Paul Stirling(c), Andrew Balbirnie, Lorcan Tucker(w), Harry Tector, Curtis Campher, George Dockrell, Gareth Delany, Mark Adair, Barry McCarthy, Joshua Little, and Benjamin White.