Virat Kohli in action for RCB during IPL 2024© AFP
Indian cricket team star Virat Kohli has emerged as an unlikely option to open the innings alongside Rohit Sharma amid his good form in IPL 2024. Kohli, who scored another half-century for Royal Challengers Bengaluru during the match against Gujarat Titans on Sunday is currently the highest run-scorer in the league and many pundits including former India skipper Sourav Ganguly backed him to open the innings in the T20 World Cup 2024. However, legendary Indian batsman Virender Sehwag believes that Virat should continue batting at number one. 3 and even mentioned Sachin Tendulkar's decision to demote himself to number 4 during the 2007 World Cup to drive home his point.
“If I was on that team, I wouldn't send him to the opening. I'm playing him at No. 3. Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal open, and Kohli continues to bat at No. 3. The middle-overs approach gives him a headache, he knows that if there is an early dismissal, he can provide powerplays. If the wicket falls late, it is the responsibility of the captain and coach to tell him to keep the momentum intact. A player has to do this,” Sehwag said on Cricbuzz.
“Sachin Tendulkar also left his opening role to play at No. 4, carrying the momentum in that role. He batted at number 4 in the 2007 World Cup. Even he didn't like batting in the middle order but he had to do that for the team. If your team has two good openers and you are asked to bat at 3, then you should do so. You have to carry the momentum that the openers have created. I don't think Virat Kohli will worry about that.”
Meanwhile, Kohli blasted his critics after his team's victory over GT in IPL 2024.
“Not really, all the people who talk about the strike rates and me not playing well are the ones who talk about this stuff. For me it's about winning the games for the team and there's a reason why you do it you've been doing this day in and day out for fifteen years, you've won games for your teams, I'm not entirely sure if you haven't been in that situation yourself, you should be able to compete from the box. talk For me, people can talk about their assumptions day in and day out, but those who have done that day in and day out know what's happening and it's like muscle memory for me now,” Kohli said.
Topics mentioned in this article