India and Afghanistan’s impending T20I series of three games will highlight the comeback of seasoned players, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. Observing these two play T20Is, after a gap of over a year, as they adjust to India’s full-on aggressive style, absent during their break, will be notable.
While there is clarity surrounding Rohit Sharma’s role, which will not be too different from his approach while batting in the 2023 ODI World Cup, there are a lot of question marks over Virat Kohli. There is doubt whether the modern-day shortest format still has room for the ace batter’s class or will he need to revamp his game altogether.
As one of the favorites for the West Indies and USA 2024 T20 World Cup, Virat Kohli has a lot to show to those who argue that his presence in the team is a step backward for the Indian side. Having a historic series is one way that Kohli may silence the doubters, and starting the innings is the ideal way to do it.
Having said that, let’s examine the top three reasons Virat Kohli has to start as India’s opener against Afghanistan in the Twenty20 Internationals.
1. Anchor role is more or less a dead role nowadays
The notion of preserving wickets and going ballistic in the end has been outdated, when teams can just maintain the same aggressive approach for the entirety of the innings. There is potentially no place for an anchor in the shortest format these days, especially in optimum batting conditions.
Furthermore, teams these days have such batting depth, reinforced by all-rounders in the lower order, that losing wickets is less of an issue than a poor scoring rate.
While Virat Kohli was away, India deployed hitters like Shreyas Iyer, Ishan Kishan, and Tilak Varma at the No. 3 position. The young batsmen adjusted well to the all-out aggressive style.
2. Kohli’s impressive record as an opener in T20 cricket
Virat Kohli’s T20 career often finds him up top. Aside from a short stint in IPL 2022, where he was No. 3, most recent seasons have seen him as the opening batter for the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB).
He has intermittently appeared as an opener even while wearing Indian colors. But he only played nine innings at the top since there were so many opening bats in the country at all times and there weren’t many players to take over the No. 3 spot.
In Twenty20 Internationals, the 35-year-old bats at No. 3 and has a strike rate of 135; when he leads the innings, the figure soars to 161.29. During the 2022 Asia Cup, Kohli made his debut as an opener against Afghanistan, which also happened to be his final T20I century.
In 2021, he and Rohit Sharma began the innings during the home T20I series against England. At the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, the two produced a commanding 94-run opening-wicket stand, with Kohli scoring an undefeated 80.
3. Virat Kohli’s vulnerability against spin in the middle overs
When it comes to trying to dominate spinners in the middle overs, Kohli has had his fair share of difficulties. The pressure is frequently increased by the dot balls and the absence of boundaries, which striking rotation alone is unable to relieve.
Since 2020, Kohli’s strike rate against spin in the IPL has only been 102, and he has barely improved in T20I cricket. With the field stretched out, he may find it challenging to match the Afghan spin twins Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Noor Ahmed.
In this instance, it would be ideal to let Kohli exploit the situations where the pacers are active during the powerplay and when the ball is hitting the bat with some skill.
