T20 World Cup: Virat Kohli as opener? It is evident that Virat Kohli has roared back to form. He was the highest-run scorer for India in Asia Cup. The former India captain also scored his maiden ton as an opener. That innings against Afghanistan has made ex-selector MSK Prasad believe that Kohli can open for India in T20 World Cup. He feels KL Rahul can bat in the middle order. Follow T20 World Cup live updates with InsideSport.IN
In the last Asia Cup, Kohli only opened once. It was made possible when regular opener and captain Rohit Sharma sat out the Afghanistan game. Prasad is, however, aware that Rohit, Rahul and Sharma are the top three, but considers Virat as an option as an opener.
“It is very obvious that Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul and Virat Kohli will be our top three. With Virat getting back in form, they can try him as an opener as KL, in the past, has succeeded in the middle order. The batting line-up is quite flexible. They may not play Rahul in the middle order, but that is always an option,” The Indian Express quoted Prasad as saying in an interview.
Kohli back with bang: In the lead up to the Asia Cup, there was lot of chatters about Kohli’s form. He had not scored an international ton for more than 1000 days. But he silenced all his critics in the continental competition.
The batter, who had taken a break from cricket before the series, looked fresh. He came with a changed approach. The batter adapted to the new template of Rohit Sharma’s aggressive brand of cricket and played his shots.
King Kohli is back and back. He is bloody good. What a player. pic.twitter.com/zoWS6Haiw9
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) September 8, 2022
Kohli succeeded with the approach, scoring 35, 59 not out, 60, 0 and 122 in the Asia Cup. It is such form, which helped him jump to 15th place in the T20 batter rankings list also. Hence, all eyes will be on the upcoming India vs Australia T20 series, which starts in September 20.
One does not see Kohli opening in the Australia series though. However, Rahul has batted in the middle order in the past for India with some success. In four matches as number four, he has scored 174 runs at an average of 87.00 at a strike rate of 175.75.
Editors pick
