When was the last time Virat Kohli opened in an ODI?

Star batter Virat Kohli returned to the Indian playing XI for the third and final ODI against Australia in Rajkot on Wednesday, September 27.

While Team India had no trouble brushing aside the Aussies in the first two games to take an unassailable 2-0 lead, they would welcome the return of their superstar for the last match before the World Cup.

However, with several players injured or rested, the 34-year-old was listed to open with skipper Rohit Sharma as Team India went with six bowling options. Considering Australia won the toss and elected to bat first, we will have to wait a few hours to see if Kohli does open the batting.

Yet, fans were curious to know when Kohli last batted as an opener in ODIs. For that, we will have to go back to the second game of the three-match series against Bangladesh in December last year.

Following a defeat in the opening ODI, the Men in Blue were required to chase 272 to level the series. However, skipper Rohit Sharma suffered a finger dislocation while fielding in the Bangladesh innings.

This saw every other batter moved up a spot, resulting in Kohli opening the innings with Shikhar Dhawan. Unfortunately, the short notice to open seemed to have an adverse impact as he was dismissed for a lowly five off nine deliveries. Playing an uncharacteristically ugly-looking pull, the ball took the inside edge onto his stumps.

Despite Rohit's defiant knock of 51* with injury at No. 9, Team India suffered a five-run defeat to fall to an unsalvagable 0-2 deficit.

Virat Kohli has opened the batting seven times in ODIs

Kohli has scored only one half-century opening the batting in ODIs.

Virat Kohli has opened the batting seven times in ODIs, including the aforementioned Bangladesh clash. What is often forgotten, thanks to his eye-catching records in the 50-over format, is the 34-year-old played his first five ODI innings as an opener.

Kohli made his ODI debut in a five-match series in Sri Lanka in 2008 and opened the batting on each occasion. While he scored only 12 in his first outing, the elegant batter immediately made a mark with a valuable 37 on a treacherous pitch in the second ODI to help India chase 143.

Kohli then recorded his first international half-century in the fourth ODI at Colombo, helping India take an unassailable 3-1 series lead. He rounded off the series as an opener with a gritty 31 at the same venue.

Since his debut series, Kohli never batted as an opener until the penultimate game of a five-match ODI series in New Zealand in 2014. In that game, Kohli and Rohit opened the batting for Team India.

However, he managed just a dismal two off ten deliveries before being dismissed by Tim Southee.

While it is admirable to see Virat Kohli accepting the burden of opening the batting for the team's benefit, his numbers fall dramatically compared to his incredible overall stats.

Kohli averages only 23.70 as an opener in seven innings at a strike rate of 65, with one half-century.

Overall, the legendary batter has scored 13,027 runs at an other-worldly average of 57.38 and a 93.79 strike rate in 280 ODI games. Kohli is behind only Indian great Sachin Tendulkar (49) for most ODI centuries, with an extraordinary 47 tons.