List of players who were backed by Kohli in tough times....
Mohammad Siraj
Yeah! And Mohd Siraj isn't the player whom I'd play across formats for India. When the going gets tough, he is usually sent on a leather hunt. For SENA pitches that offer a bit of movement, he can be a handful (Test match only). I still feel he's being fast-tracked into the ODI and T20 setup on the basis of his Test form. Siraj is a work horse, similar to what Ishant once used to be for India. Definitely not a limited overs player in my opinion.
I don’t understand the sudden craze with Pant opening that has taken over everywhere as a storm. He’s played what, 40+ games without much results to show for it in the middle order? All of a sudden he’s made the opener on the basis of not much domestic experience there and just because Sharma and Sehwag did it successfully we’re now believing that lightning will strike thrice? I still feel if he can work his game out he’ll send DK back to the reserves but until then I‘d back the latter.
My thoughts on Pant- similar to what I mentioned above. He's the perfect fit for Test matches and he has shown that he can take the game away from the opposition almost immediately. Plus, in Tests, we do have a lot of time on our hands and a back up in case Pant fails. The same luxury isn't applicable to ODIs.
I like your point about Pant not being able to show much in the middle order. The reason he's opening is- Dravid! The U19 CWC 2018 saw Pant and Kishan open the batting for India. (even Sundar). Maybe ,Dravid is drawing from that aspect.
I'm still not convinced by Pant's gameplay in Limited Overs and agree that DK might be the one to don the hat for the next 2 years. Post that, the likes of Sanju/ Kishan can take over, if Pant doesn't improve his gameplay.
To be fair I don’t see Rahul doing himself any justice. The bloke’s clearly in his head a bit too much sometimes. Helps when you need to bounce back from being one half the worst opening pair in test history to the number one opening choice that is missed even for a one-off game but he needs to knuckle down and start playing more freely. I don‘t doubt that will happen under Dravid though once he’s fit as he’ll be very keen to get that version of Rahul rolling.
Quite simply put, if he is fit and in decent nick I’ll take Rahul being a mainstay easily. Kohli’s the one that I have my concerns about as he simply doesn’t fit into this side unless he opens and plays a very specific way. Which also risks him losing his wicket very cheaply given how vulnerable he seems to be to getting out.
KLR is very similar to the players of yesteryear who would score when their place was under scrutiny(Read Yuvraj). I admit I have never been a fan of the guy, but I feel he does have a role to play in the side. The T20 team -from what I saw, has become more aggressive and you cannot have the likes of KLR and Kohli in the same side with a Rohit. All of them, tend to build up their innings, eat up deliveries and then go bashing in the last 3-4 overs. Given how the game and the opposition has changed, I have only seen Rohit build up tempo from the 1st ball.
In ODIs though- here's a team where KLR can literally own his place. All he needs to do, is to find the right spot to bat at. Given our ever-dynamic batting/side changes, it can be a tad difficult for someone to get hold of a spot and own it. IMO, the perfect batting position for him is #3. He can control the innings from there and launch an attack in the latter overs.
The other concern as someone pointed out- his flirtatious affair with injuries. This is not helping his cause. I also do not understand how he can simply walk into the side after his injury, especially when the team has done so well without him. Perhaps, India needs to get inspired from the way Sri Lanka handled these things in 2005/6 when Jayawardena captained in the absence of Attapatu. However, upon Attapatus' return, it was very evident that he had no place in the XI and that the captaincy of Mahela was far superior. In the end, the SLCB ended up appointed Mahela as their full time captain- a decision that paid rich dividends.
Rohit Sharma 
