Former South Africa batter AB de Villiers suggested India’s Virat Kohli to change his batting position following the 35-year-old’s continuous struggle with the bat in the ongoing T20 World Cup 2024.
So far in three matches — against Ireland, Pakistan and the USA — Kohli lost his wicket after scoring one, four and 0 runs respectively. While many experts have stated that the 35-year-old should continue playing as an opener, de Villiers believes that he should change his batting order.
Talking on his YouTube channel, the South African great stressed that Kohli is still the best player in the world in middle overs and he is India’s go-to guy at No. 3 as they will be playing on better wickets in the Caribbean.
"I have always said please bat Virat at No. 3. Especially in better wickets that they will play now, Virat is the go-to guy at No. 3. He can play the attacking game and also pull back and absorb the pressure if necessary. He is the best player in the world in the middle overs. I don't see any reasons [for opening]," said de Villiers.
India continue to wait for an ICC trophy since 2013. They came close to lifting the ODI World Cup 2023 but Travis Head shattered their dreams in the final in Ahmedabad. De Villiers believed that the current Indian side has the potential to end the trophy drought.
"Just make sure you throw the first punch. In the past World Cups, I think they have been a bit conservative, sort of feeling their way into a game. They are such a quality team that I feel they can take a bit of a risk early in the game to get the momentum because there is no looking back once they get the momentum."
India’s squad for T20 World Cup
Rohit Sharma (c), Hardik Pandya (vc), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wk), Sanju Samson (wk), Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj.
Reserves: Shubman Gill, Rinku Singh, Khaleel Ahmed and Avesh Khan.
India’s Super 8 schedule
Thu, 20 June 2024 — Afghanistan v India, Barbados, 10:30 AM LOCAL
Sat, 22 June 2024 — India v Bangladesh/Netherlands, Antigua, 10:30 AM LOCAL
Mon, 24 June 2024 — Australia v India, St. Lucia, 10:30 AM LOCAL
- Virat Kohli
