Ex-captain of South Africa, AB de Villiers holds the view that Virat Kohli, despite his great performance as a T20 cricket opener, should not be the first to bat for India.
Kohli’s best place, AB de Villiers thinks, is the No. 3 spot. Why? Because Kohli knows how to steady the ship and team up with middle-order batters. In his new YouTube video, de Villiers states this:
“I have a different opinion. For the most part of my international career, Virat batting at No. 3 was the biggest threat for us when we played against India. I’ve always felt like he was the glue of the team in the middle-order. No. 3 is not quite middle-order, it is top-order. But he is so good that he often combined with the middle-order, even down to tailenders. It’s just impossible to play against that.”
AB de Villiers
Additionally, AB de Villiers said that if Kohli begins the batting, there’s a good possibility he’ll receive an unplayable delivery early on, which would cost him a wicket. He continued, saying:
“With a new ball, facing the first few deliveries there, I just think that the chances of getting a good delivery up front are so much better. I’m worried about that position. Even though the numbers don’t look bad, I have some other stats for you. When Virat faces the very first ball as an opener, his average is 23 and strike rate is 138. When he doesn’t face the first ball and is at the non-striker’s end, he averages 140 with a strike rate of 173.”
AB de Villiers
The cricketer-turned-expert mentioned Kohli’s stellar track record at No. 3 in Twenty20 Internationals.
“What I do like is that No. 3 position. 79 games played there, average of 55 and strike rate of 135. Very solid, match-winner, keeps everyone together, and he allows some of the power hitters to have freedom at the back end of the innings.”
AB de Villiers
After 14 months, Virat Kohli rejoined India’s T20 team. His anticipated return occurred during the second T20I in the current three-game home series versus Afghanistan.
The seasoned player had an aggressive game and seemed in excellent form, scoring 29 runs in 16 balls at a scorching strike rate of 181.25.
“I always tried to convince him not to open the batting” – AB de Villiers on playing with Virat Kohli for RCB
AB de Villiers and Virat Kohli spent lots of time together. They were teammates with Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League. This was when AB de Villiers was still playing.
De Villiers revealed that he had also attempted to persuade Kohi to forfeit his starting position for the Royal Challengers of Bengal. However, he said that the star hitter should be let to play any specific role if he was eager to do so.
“Even for Bangalore, when we played at RCB for so many years together, I always tried to convince him (Virat Kohli) onot to open the batting. He loves that; I think that’s his preference. He’s played cricket for long enough and maybe he should have the final say. If he wants to open the batting, if I was the coach, I would say, ‘Okay, you know what you’re doing. Go open the batting; you’re the best player, go win us the World Cup.”
AB de Villiers
The next time we’ll see Virat Kohli play is in the third T20I. It’s against Afghanistan. The game’s at the M.Chinnaswamy Stadium. That’s in Bengaluru. It’s Wednesday, January 17. Now, the match doesn’t affect the series outcome. Men in Blue are already leading 2-0 in the three-match series. They can’t lose.