Virat Kohli stepping out as an opener in the last Super 4 clash against Afghanistan on Thursday yielded miraculous results for India. The former skipper notched up his long-awaited 71st international century which was also his first in the T20 Internationals. He was ‘pleasantly surprised’ over getting a hundred in the shortest format as it was least expected. But it was a moment to cherish for the fans and the batter himself as the ton came to the fore after almost three years.
Former India spinner Harbhajan Singh lauded Kohli’s performance and suggested that India have a good opening option in the 33-year-old if they want to pursue it in the lead-up to the T20 World Cup.
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In a conversation with India Today, Harbhajan opined that Kohli has been for the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) and the role isn’t new for the batter.
“He has been opening his innings even in franchise cricket, even for RCB while he was captaining. When he opened the innings for RCB, he scored 921 runs in one season. So this role is not new to him, he sort of likes that spot,” Harbhajan Singh said.
“Indian team needs to see what they need to do going forward whether they want to have a combo of Virat Kohli and Rohit starting the innings and KL bat at No. 3. The management needs to decide whether this can be plan B of plan A. For me, Virat is a top, top player, no doubt about it. So are KL Rahul and Rohit.
“Yeah, Virat opening would be a brilliant idea, going forward. But I am not sure if Rahul will stick with that,” he added.
Since Rohit Sharma opted out of the game, which was a dead rubber, Kohli stepped to open the innings with KL Rahul. The duo stitched a 119-run opening stand with the stand-in captain scoring 62 off just 41 balls. It was Rahul’s first fifty at the Asia Cup as the opener had struggled to get going in the tournament after returning from an injury lay-off.
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