Is Kohli opening batting for India a mistake?
Virat Kohli has once again failed to provide his team a decent start due to an over aggressive approach in the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup 2024.
The 35-year-old was out cheaply for one in India’s first game in the event played against Ireland. Playing in his second and arguably one of the biggest match of the marquee event, Kohli started his innings with a beautiful cover drive, but he couldn’t resist himself to slap a short wide side off delivery by Naseem Shah that went straight into the hands of Usman Khan at over point.
Former Indian captain went back to pavillion for duck in his third attempt to open the innings while playing against United States of America.
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Kohli’s natural game is to go and soak the pressure while coming in at number 3 position, but the role for him will completely change when it comes to open the innings.
Is Kohli opening batting for India a mistake?
The demand of the team is to smash the balls as many as they can and provide a good start, and one of the most skillful batters of modern-day cricket is not looking comfortable while opening the innings.
It’s not that Kohli isn’t a terrific opener; he is, and his record is fantastic in IPL (Indian Premier League) is phenomenal.
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International cricket is extremely different from IPL, as there is no impact player rule, which allows him to play fearless in the league.
But his fearless role is not helping the team on the bigger stage, as one must be more attentive when playing international cricket, which he is when he bats at number 3.
Virat Kohli record as an opener in IPL
Batting Position Inns Runs HS Avg S/R 100s 50s 4s 6s
Opening 113 4352 113* 45.81 138.38 8 31 401 158
Virat Kohli record as an opener in T20Is
Batting position Mat Runs HS Avg BF SR 100s 50s 4s 6s
1st Position 5 119 39 23.80 86 138.37 0 0 18 2
2nd Position 6 286 122* 71.50 170 168.23 1 2 31 9
Kohli is the biggest pillar in Indian batting line-up and his skill and expertise will be required more from the next stage of the event, where the Indian team will be facing more dangerous sides.
Virat Kohli record at number 3
| Batting position | Mat | Runs | HS | Avg | BF | SR | 100s | 50s | 4s | 6s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3rd Position | 80 | 3076 | 94* | 53.96 | 2274 | 135.26 | 0 | 32 | 276 | 79 |
Virat has played a total 119 games in the shortest format of the game and batted at number 3 position in 80 matches out of those.
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He is currently the second highest run-scorer in T20Is with 4042 runs, with 3076 came while batting at number 3 spot.
India also selected a specialist opener in the squad in the form of Yashasvi Jaiswal, and the team may rethink their decision of opening combination for the next big matches.
