IPL 2022: "Musical chairs was being played last year" - Aakash Chopra, Wasim Jaffer pick Virat Kohli's batting spot for this season

Former India openers Aakash Chopra and Wasim Jaffer want Virat Kohli to bat at No.3 for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in IPL 2022. While Chopra feels it will provide stability to the batting order in the absence of AB de Villiers, Jaffer believes that Kohli will be able to bring out his natural game at one-down.

Like every season, whether Kohli is better suited for the opening or No.3 is a major debate this year as well. He has better IPL stats as an opener (2750 runs at 43.65 and a strike rate of 136.68) than as a No.3 (2696 runs at 36.93 and 123.84). But he also had one of his worst seasons last year while opening the batting.

Speaking in an interaction with ESPNcricinfo, Chopra said RCB needs to avoid a "musical chairs" game for No.3 like last season. He remarked that one of their latest signings, Dinesh Karthik, alone can't fill the void created by De Villiers' departure. So the former captain would have to take more onus by batting lower in the order.

Chopra explained:

"Last year when Kohli was opening the batting, a game of musical chairs was being played for the No. 3 spot. They stopped at Srikar Bharat at the end but then sent him at No. 4 too. We've seen this a lot in RCB's recent history that they shuffle the batting order a lot but if you can identify the crucial positions beforehand [it would be better]."

The cricketer-turned-commentator added:

"Also, keep in mind there's no AB de Villiers. When he was there, they were assured he would handle the situation from No. 4 or No. 5. Of course, you have Dinesh Karthik but he isn't AB de Villiers. You will want Virat Kohli to take the game deep and stay at the pitch till the 14th or 15th over. So I'll say Virat Kohli at 3."

Besides KS Bharat, Glenn Maxwell and Shahbaz Ahmed also batted at No.3 for RCB in IPL 2021 with mixed success. While Maxwell is likely to play at No.4 this season, Ahmed can still be looked at as a No.3 option based on his superb form in the recent domestic season. Bharat, meanwhile, was roped in by the Delhi Capitals at the mega auction last month.

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Virat Kohli can pace the game very well from No.3: Wasim Jaffer

Jaffer also feels that Kohli shouldn't open the innings. He said the right-hander "forces himself a bit" to attack in the powerplay and deviates from his natural game. Jaffer added that his pairing with captain Faf du Plessis, who is also right-handed and plays in a similar fashion to him, might not be fruitful as well.

He said:

"I prefer Virat Kohli batting at No. 3. I feel he can pace the game very well from there whether he comes to bat in the powerplay or after that. He's somebody who takes some time initially and then his strike rate progressively goes up. In the powerplay, it seems as he forces himself a bit to hit by using the crease which I don't think is his game. He's obviously been successful as well but I think he plays better at No. 3."

Jaffer added that rookie left-hander Anuj Rawat - 501 runs from 22 innings in domestic T20s at a strike rate of 121.01 - would be a better option at the top of the order. He explained:

"I also feel that Faf and Virat are similar kinds of players so Virat at No. 3 and Maxy (Glenn Maxwell) at No. 4 seems a better combination. Anuj Rawat, he's a left-hander as well, bats in the powerplay for Delhi, opens in the [Syed] Mushtaq Ali [Trophy] - we could see him opening the batting and I would like to see Virat at No. 3."

RCB will play their first game of the season against Punjab Kings on March 27.