“I have a different opinion” – AB de Villiers not in favour of Virat Kohli opening the batting in T20Is

Former South African batter AB de Villiers is not in favor of Virat Kohli opening the batting in T20Is for the national team. Kohli recently made a return to the T20I format after a long gap of 14 months in the second T20I against Afghanistan.

The talisman scored a fine little cameo of 29 runs off just 16 balls and added 57 runs with Yashasvi Jaiswal. Kohli has scored 4037 runs in 116 T20I matches at an average of 52.43.

Virat Kohli finished the ODI World Cup as the highest run-getter with 765 runs in 11 matches at an average of 95.62 and a strike rate of 90.32. Ergo, he was awarded Player of the tournament for his consistent performances.

Speaking in his latest YouTube video, de Villiers said: “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 added that Kohli can get an unplayable delivery in the Powerplay overs while opening the innings.

“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.”

Kohli has scored 400 runs in nine T20I innings while opening the innings. However, Kohli has mostly batted at number three in T20Is and he has scored 3076 runs at an average of 54.92 and a strike rate of 135.32.

“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.”

On the other hand, AB de Villiers, who played with Virat Kohli for Royal Challengers Bangalore, added he advised the talisman not to open even for the franchise.

“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.'”

The third and last T20I of the series between India and Afghanistan will be played at the M.Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru on Wednesday.