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1, 4, O: Questions Rising on Virat Kohl's Performance As Opener in T20 WC

  • By Thetripurapost Desk, New York
  • Jun 14, 2024
  • 108

1, 4 and 0...these are Virat Kohli's 3 scores of T20 World Cup 2024. Before this, Virat played 27 innings in the tournament history, came at number-3 in all and never got out under 5 runs, but as soon as he started opening, he could not even touch the 5-run mark.

In such a situation, it is natural to raise the question whether Team India is losing Kohli's wicket easily? Should he leave opening and return to number-3? If Kohli comes down, who will open? Let's know the answers to all these questions.

He has never had such a bad phase in the tournament history. Before the 9th T20 World Cup, he scored 14 fifties in 27 matches, scored between 10 and 40 runs 8 times and did not get a chance to bat 2 times.

In only 3 innings, Kohli's score was less than 10 runs, in that too once he remained not out after scoring 2 runs and the team won. That means in this tournament, he failed only twice in 10 years. In 2012, he could score only 2 runs against South Africa and 9 years later in 2021, he could score only 9 runs against New Zealand.

Virat Kohli, the most consistent batsman in the history of the tournament , made his first duck in the T20 World Cup and
batted at number-3 till 2022. He was successful every time, but in 2024 he could score only one run against Ireland and 4 against Pakistan. Kohli made a golden duck against America, that is, he got out on the very first ball without opening his account.

Kohli got out on zero for the first time in the T20 World Cup. The common thing in all three matches was that Virat came out to open the innings instead of number-3 position. He has scored a lot of runs in IPL at this position, but could not succeed in ICC tournaments.

3 reasons for Kohli's failure
1. Opening: Virat opened for India in 9 matches before the World Cup. He scored 400 runs at an average of around 57 and a strike rate of over 161. This included a century and 2 fifties, but as soon as he took up the opening position in the World Cup, he stopped scoring runs. At number 3, he often plays cautiously and responsibly, but in opening, he is focusing on increasing the score quickly.

2. Attacking strategy: Virat has scored 8 centuries as an opener in IPL. In 2024, he scored 741 runs at a career best strike rate of 155. Virat applied the same attacking strategy in the World Cup as well, but failed. Against Ireland, he was caught at third man while trying to play a big shot by coming forward. Whereas, against Pakistan, he was caught at covers while trying to hit a four. Against America, he went to hit a four on the very first ball, but was caught behind. That is, the attacking strategy is not working for him in the World Cup.

3. New York pitch: India played all its matches in Nassau Stadium in New York. Batting is so difficult there that only 2 teams could score more than 120 runs in 16 innings. Only 5 batsmen scored fifties, out of which 4 took more than 40 balls. That means not only Virat but other batsmen also had troubles in New York. Even captain Rohit Sharma got out on 13 and 3 runs after scoring a fifty against Ireland

 

Virat's form returns or not will be known only from the upcoming matches, but we can definitely know how strong he is at number 3. Virat played 120 T20s for India and batted at number 3 108 times. In these, he scored 3,637 runs at an average of more than 51 and a strike rate of more than 136. These include 35 fifties. Apart from this, he opened in 12 matches.

In the T20 World Cup from 2012 to 2022, Virat scored 1141 runs at an average of around 82. His strike rate was more than 131 and he also scored 14 fifties. He also played his miraculous innings of 82 runs against Pakistan in the last World Cup by coming in at number-3. That is, if Virat leaves opening and comes out to bat at number-3, then according to the previous record, he will perform well.
Kohli comes at number-3, Team India can make Yashasvi Jaiswal open. Yashasvi has opened in 17 T-20 matches for India and has also scored 502 runs at a strike rate of around 162. This includes a century and 5 fifties. That means Team India has kept an explosive batsman in the form of Yashasvi on the bench.

Yashasvi did not play the first three matches, to include him in the playing-11, a player will have to be left out. If we look at the form of the first 3 matches, then Yashasvi Jaiswal can be played in place of Shivam Dubey or Ravindra Jadeja.

Dubey could score only 34 runs in the last 3 matches, while he was made to bowl only one over. On the other hand, Jadeja could bat only against Pakistan, but he could not even open his account. He bowled only 3 overs in 3 matches, in which he did not get any wicket. However, he gave only 17 runs.
if Rishabh Pant starts opening then Virat can be played at number 3 without changing the playing-11. Pant is a left-handed batsman and has scored 96 runs in the last 3 matches. If he starts the innings with captain Rohit, then the team will come with left and right hand batsmen.

Pant bats with an explosive mindset, he proved this by batting at number 3 in the last 3 matches. In all three matches, he got a chance to bat during the powerplay and he also took advantage of it. Therefore, if Pant is made to open, he will get more chances to attack in the powerplay. Which can prove beneficial for India.

Shivam Dubey scored crucial 31 runs off 35 balls against the USA. He supported Suryakumar Yadav on a difficult pitch and led the team to victory with a 67-run partnership. However, he still does not seem to be in his peak form. India will play its next match against Canada on June 15, in which Sanju Samson can be given a chance in place of Dubey.

Along with batting cautiously, Samson also hits big shots when needed. If Samson is successful, he can be given a chance in the upcoming matches as well. India will play all its three matches in Super-8 on 3 different grounds in West Indies. The pitches of all the three venues are slow, Dubey may have trouble scoring runs here. While Samson is a proper batsman, he has scored runs in domestic and international cricket on slow pitches. Therefore, he can be given a chance.

By giving Ravindra Jadeja rest against Canada, the team can also give a chance to Kuldeep Yadav or Yuzvendra Chahal. Captain Rohit did not make Jadeja bowl much, because Hardik made his job easy by bowling 4-4 ​​overs in all three matches. In such a situation, by giving Jadeja rest, a full-time bowler or batsman can be given a chance. However, India does not believe in changing its winning team, so Virat can open against Canada as well and the playing-11 may also not change.