Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting has suggested that during the upcoming T20 World Cup, starting on June 1 in the West Indies and USA, it may be beneficial for Virat Kohli to open the batting alongside skipper Rohit Sharma.
Kohli, who usually comes at No.3 for Team India, has been in red-hot form in the current IPL season. The run-machine amassed 708 runs an average of 64.36 and with an IPL career best strike-rate of 155.60 while opening for the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB).
What Ponting said
“They (selectors) have still got a decision to make because (Yashasvi) Jaiswal is in that squad and one thing they haven’t got a lot in their team is left-hand batters, so they’ve got a decision to make with Jaiswal, but I’m pretty sure that they’ll go with Kohli and Rohit Sharma (as openers),” said Ponting to ICC.
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“He can play his role at the top. And if you’ve got the right guys around him scoring (like) Suryakumar (Yadav)…Rohit Sharma’s going to have a high strike rate. These other guys can go in there and play their way,” added the former Aussie skipper.
“I remember having this chat and some other chats I did for the ICC about there’s some talk about Virat not being in their team only last year, but what happened when the big games come around, he was one of the guys who got the job done,” Ponting added.
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Ponting on IPL 2024
The IPL 2024 has witnessed significant increases in run totals and successful chases, indicating a shift towards a more favorable environment for batters. Fans are particularly focused on statistics like strike rates, reflecting the changing dynamics of the game. Ponting made remarks on the recent evolution of cricket.
“The mantra I think for the teams three or four years ago, was making sure that someone at the top of the order made 80 or 100, even if it took them 60 balls, it didn’t really matter, I think it’s sort of shifting now to be more of a strike rate based game where you can have a massive impact on a game with a 40 off 15 balls rather than getting an 80 off 55 balls sort of thing,” concluded Ponting.
