5 reasons why Virat Kohli should open in T20Is

Virat Kohli is probably the finest limited overs batsman on the planet at the moment and over the past 5 years or so, he has established himself as the premier match-winner for the Indian cricket team. India usually do well in ODIs and T20s when Kohli does well.

However, there is an argument to make in favour of Kohli opening the innings for India in T20s instead of coming in at number three and although he has not opened much for India in the shortest format of the game, a move to the top of the order might well prove to be a masterstroke in the long run.

So here are the 5 reasons why the captain should open the innings for Team India.

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#1 He is the team’s best batsman

In one day internationals, number three is probably Kohli’s ideal position since he can keep the run rate up in the middle overs and then finish with a flourish. However, the same strategy does not always work in T20s. A T20 innings consists of only 120 legal deliveries and a team needs to make each delivery count.

In such a scenario, it is paramount for any team to ensure that their best batsman gets to face as many deliveries as possible. Virat Kohli is India’s best batsman by a distance and his transformation as a T20 opener will surely be a welcome move.

#2 He can take his time to settle

When he comes in at number three, the match situation could be anything. India might have got off to a flier or a wicket might have fallen in the 1st over. Kohli needs to bat according to the situation then and most of the time, he needs to get going from the start.

As an opener though, he has the luxury of at least gauging the nature of the pitch and the overall conditions by playing out a few deliveries. He can play himself in, before launching. That is a luxury he does not have at any other position and being the team’s primary match winner, it is imperative that Kohli decides to open the innings in T20s.

#3 He opens regularly in the IPL

Since around the 2016 season of the IPL, Virat Kohli has become Royal Challengers Bangalore’s permanent opener and unleashed absolute carnage in almost all the games he played. In 2017, he may have been completely out of form and a bit jaded, but his performances in 2016 showed that the role of a T20 opening batsman suits him perfectly.

Till date, he has opened 43 times in the IPL and has amassed 1743 runs at an average of 52.82. Meanwhile, he also scored four centuries and 12 half centuries in those 43 innings. Kohli’s show in the IPL is the perfect indication that he should make one of the opener’s berths in international T20s his own and there is no reason why he can’t replicate his exploits in the international arena.

#4 He has an impressive record as opener

Kohli has opened only a few times in T20 internationals over the span of his 49 game career stretching over 7 years. In the 6 innings in which he has opened the batting for India, he averages a modest 31.5 but has a highly impressive strike rate of 148.8.

A permanent move to the opening slot might ensure that India almost always get off to a flier in any T20 they play, anywhere in the world. However, these samples are too small and in order to rightly gauge his abilities as a T20 opener, one needs to look at his record in the IPL for Royal Challengers Bangalore (see the previous slide).

#5 Would lead to a much-needed reorganisation of the batting order

The batting order and lack of power hitters in the Indian T20 international line up has been a cause for concern for quite some time. Kohli’s promotion to the top of the order might actually give the team management the liberty to address those concerns for once.

With the promotion of Kohli, a proven six hitter like KL Rahul could be moved to number three and someone like Hardik Pandya could fill the void left behind by the likes of Suresh Raina and Yuvraj Singh. That sort of a reorganisation of the batting order would allow India the opportunity to give their power hitters a nice little platform from which they can launch.

T20 is all about squeezing the maximum out of the 120 deliveries in an innings and it is suicidal to carry passengers in the batting line up. The platform that will be laid by Kohli in the first half of the innings will then be cashed in by players who could be T20 stars in the years to come. There is simply no downside to Kohli opening the innings.