Asia Cup 2022: 'Virat Scoring Runs Is A Huge Bonus For The Team' – KL Rahul

India’s stand-in captain for the Afghanistan game, KL Rahul, must have been relieved to get a good score under his belt as he hit 62 off 41 balls to end his poor form throughout the Asia Cup 2022, with scores of 0, 38. 28, 6 before the game against Afghanistan.

Kohli and Rahul opened the innings yesterday after Rohit Sharma was rested. Rohit is expected to open with vice-captain Rahul in the next series, and Kohli will return to his No.3 spot.

“To Kya Mai Khud Beth Jaan?: KL Rahul On Virat As Future Opener

In the post-match press conference, when asked if Kohli should open the innings for India in T20Is, Rahul quipped, “To kya mai khud beth jaan? (So should I sit out?)”.

Rahul stated that a player like Kohli could hit a century as both an opener and a No.3 for India.

“Obviously, Virat scoring runs is a huge bonus for the team, and the way he played today against Afghanistan, I know he is very very pleased with how he batted today. He has been working on his game and that worked beautifully today. As a team, it is important for every player to get time out in the middle,” Rahul said.

Kohli has a healthy average of 57.13 in nine innings starts in T20Is, scoring 400 runs at a strike rate of 161.29 with two fifties and a century. Of course, his last 122 not out helped to boost these numbers, but these are better numbers than his overall T20I averages. He has 3584 runs in 109 matches at an average of 51.94 and a strike rate of 138.37. The main difference here is the significant increase in his strike rate as an opener and playing in the middle overs.

Virat Can Also Score Centuries At No.3

“You get confidence if you play 2-3 innings, really happy that he could play that way. You all know Virat Kohli, you have been watching him for so many years, it is not like he will only score centuries if he opens the batting, if he bats at No.3, he can then also score centuries. It is all about roles and what role a certain player has. The role Virat had today, he played it beautifully. In the next series we play, his role would be different,” he added.

“Obviously, the celebration by Virat was more of relief. There has been no change in his mindset, attitude, and work ethic in the last 2-3 years. There has been no difference in the way he prepares for the game. He has always had that desire, I think we are also very obsessed with numbers, obsessed with those three digits and we think, if someone is scoring hundreds, then only he is in form. His contributions have been phenomenal in the last 2-3 years,” said Rahul.

“As a player, you always want to be perfect or you want to challenge yourself towards excellency, he has always been that player. Even during this phase, he has remained in the moment and he has worked on his game. That has been a learning for our entire group.”

“In that dressing room, none of us are surprised to see what he has done today. I am sure this will give him even more confidence, he will obviously cherish this hundred and this will build great confidence around the group as well,” he added.

India completed their Asia Cup campaign on a good note, defeating Afghanistan by 101 runs on September 8 in Dubai.

Also read: India’s T20 World Cup Squad 2022 Likely To Be Picked On September 16, Selectors Concerned Over Jasprit Bumrah’s Fitness- Reports