ViratKohli as opener in T20Is before his 80* against England: Seven innings, 198 runs, Avg 28.28, SR 146.66, Highest score 70. ViratKohli is arguably the best batsman of all time in ODI cricket and one of the best in test cricket. He has scored close to 7500 runs from 91 test matches at an average of 52.37 and over 12000 runs from 254 ODI matches at an average of 59.07. What flies under the radar is that from 90 T20 International, Kohli has scored 3159 runs at an average of 52.65 and a strike rate of just under 140 which are sensational figures. Due to his correct style of batting, Kohli is sometimes not associated with T20 power hitting but he has done wonders in this format as well. His strokes in T20 cricket are the extension of normal cricketing shots and he gets great value from them. ViratKohli has been the most successful at Number 3 in T20I cricket. This is where he has played his most innings - 57 of them and has remained unbeaten in 17 of those. Kohli has scored 2329 runs while batting at Number 3 with an average of 58.23 and a strike rate of 136.84. At Number 4 as well, he has done a fine job, making 500 runs from 16 innings at an average of 45.45. Kohli has made his runs at a strike rate of 145.77 at number 4 and has the best of 77 not out. He recently decided to open the batting alongside Rohit Sharma in the T20I series against England after repeated failures from KL Rahul. It worked perfectly fine for the Indian skipper as he struck an unbeaten 80 off 52 balls with 7 fours and 2 sixes while batting at a strike rate of 153.85. His opening partner Rohit Sharma also made 64 off just 34 balls at a strike rate of 188.24 as the two experienced Indian batsmen took India's total to 94 within the first nine overs and set a perfect platform as India went on to score 224 runs from their 20 overs and win the match by 36 runs. After pocketing the T20I series 3-2, Indian captain ViratKohli said that he would consider opening the batting alongside Rohit Sharma as a long-term move. Don't be surprised if Kohli is seen in the avatar of an opener in the T20 World Cup as well and bring laurels for the country.
