“Is Virat Kohli the opener for India in T20 World Cup?” – Salman Butt says ‘it’s possible’
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Salman Butt and Virat Kohli
Salman Butt, the former Pakistan side captain had his say for Virat Kohli opening for team India in the upcoming T20 world cup 2021.
Virat Kohli, the Indian skipper usually plays at no.3 and has scored 2329 runs from 57 innings while playing at that position. But in recent times there has been an unstable opening slot as KL Rahul consistently failed to perform in the T20 series against England. So the Indian captain promoted himself to open along with Rohit Sharma and it proved to be a successful move as Kohli ended up being the highest run-scorer of the series, scoring 231 runs at a strike rate of 147.13. This helped team India to clinch the series 3-2 against England.
This provoked a question from a fan during a live session conducted by Salman Butt in his YouTube video channel, ‘Should Rohit Sharma and Kohli could open the innings for India in the T20 World Cup?’.
In reply, Butt said, “It depends and it’s possible. They (Rohit and Kohli) are India’s best players and Rohit Sharma anyway opens. Virat Kohli has been opening for his franchise, Royal Challengers (Bangalore in the IPL). But I feel we haven’t seen the best of him while opening the batting in international cricket recently. Moreover, they (India) have a left-hand-right-hand combination set. Shikhar Dhawan used to play earlier and lately, we have seen KL Rahul opening the batting.”
Salman Butt on the opening options for India
Though Kohli’s was successful as an opener for national side, it wasn’t that effective for his Franchise- Royal Challengers Bangalore in IPL 2021 as the skipper managed to score only 198 runs in 7 games, averaging only 33. This was below average statistics for a consistent and standard player like Kohli.
“They have a lot of options. You have Prithvi Shaw and other players who have performed in the IPL, so you have loads of options. So, it comes down to what Kohli chooses for himself. These two (Kohli and Rohit) are their top players and they’ll get the full quota of overs. If they play long, then every total is small for them,” he added.
India is also having numerous options for opening in the T20 World cup as we witnessed the limelight form of the opening duo’s of Delhi capitals- Prithvi Shaw and Shikar Dhawan in the IPL-2021. These openers were showing incredible consistency and blistering knocks amassing 308 and 380 runs respectively in the tournament and attracted the interests of the selectors.
“It comes down to how he (Kohli) wants to balance his team and at what stage should his best players come. It all depends on his thinking.” said Salman and he signed off.
Also read: “Very happy to be sledged by him” – Suryakumar Yadav recalls stare-off with Virat Kohli in IPL 2020
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Pozhilan. M
(68 Articles Published)