Not Opening! Ab de Villiers Picks Virat Kohli's Batting Position At T20 World Cup
not opening! ab de villiers picks virat kohli's batting position at t20 world cup
Virat Kohli has taken the world by storm, opening the batting for Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in the 2024 IPL, and is set to win the orange cap. Kohli has ended his campaign with 741 runs in 15 innings at an average of 61.75 and a strike rate of 154.69, which has come as a major boost for the Indian cricket team ahead of the T20 World Cup 2024 set to take place in the West Indies and the United States of America in June.
However, Ab de Villiers has called for India to resist the urge for him to open the batting in the mega event and insisted he should bat at number three. The South African great stated that India needed Kohli to control the innings in the middle overs.
“He’s been phenomenal but I still believe he’s a number three batsman, “He’s the guy that knows his ability and his game plan is the best. So long may that continue. But if I had the say and if it was like a TV game and I could move him around he would bat number three in my team. I know that he’s enjoying the opening spot but from a team point of view, if I had to say, he would bat in number three," said de Villiers to CricketNext.
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“I just feel he’s the best in the world when he’s just playing normal cricket, when he doesn’t feel like he’s got to take the bowlers on, where he’s got to hit the ball in the air. Between over six and 20 or seven and 20, I feel that’s where he’s the best in the world by a country mile. There’s no one better than him to hit the ball into spaces, to read the game situation. I’ve been at the other end of the wicket witnessing that many times,” de Villiers added.
Kohli is the highest run-getter in T20Is, with 4037 runs in 117 innings and an average of 51.75 and a strike rate of 138.15. Most of Kohli's career for the national team was in the shortest format. For India, Kohli has opened just nine times in T20I, in which he has scored 400 runs at an average of 57.14 and a strike rate of 161.29, which includes his sole century.
Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal are likely to open the batting for the national team in the mega event. The Men in Blue will open their campaign against Ireland on June 5 in New York.