IND vs AUS: Virender Sehwag Outlines Why Virat Kohli Cannot Be A Permanent Opener

Former India opener Virender Sehwag has outlined the limits of Virat Kohli as an opening batsman. Although Kohli did strike a century in the T20I against Afghanistan, he was only given the chance to begin because Rohit Sharma was not present.

Thursday’s 2022 Asia Cup match against Afghanistan featured Virat Kohli scoring a century for the first time since 2019 as he started the innings.

Virat Kohli, the star batsman for Team India, made an incredible comeback to run-scoring in the 2022 Asia Cup. In five matches of the continental tournament this year, Kohli, who took more than a month off from the sport after a long stretch of low-scoring games, smashed a century and two half-centuries. By the end of India’s participation in the competition, Kohli had scored the most runs overall.

In Rohit Sharma’s place, who was rested for the match, Kohli and KL Rahul opened the batting on Thursday. Together with the acting captain Rahul, the former Indian captain put on a 119-run partnership for the first wicket. He reached his century in the 19th over of the Indian innings with a six. At 122 off just 61 deliveries, Kohli eventually finished undefeated, shattering the previous mark for the highest individual score by an Indian in a T20I inning.

Even Rahul Dravid could have been an opener: Virender Sehwag

Former India opener Virender Sehwag stated to Cricbuzz why Virat Kohli cannot be an opening batsman. While expressing his thoughts, Sehwag provided some rationale and reminded supporters that the former India skipper only got to open the batting because Rohit Sharma was rested.

“No. By this logic, even Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar could have opened in Tests. They both played big knocks in 1-2 innings as openers. I guess Dravid even scored some 160-170 runs and remained unbeaten when we forged a 400-run partnership for the opening wicket in a Test. It was only because the captain was not playing that Kohli opened,” Virender Sehwag told Cricbuzz.

Kohli has excelled while batting at number three, where he has scored the majority of his runs.

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