Should Virat Kohli open at T20 World Cup? Stats show RCB star outperformed Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal combined in IPL 2024

Virat Kohli has been opening the batting for Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the Indian Premier League season 17. The former RCB skipper has also revealed that being an opener is his preferred role as a batter in the T20 format.

However, Virat Kohli has batted at number three for the Indian team. Over the years, Kohli has made the position his own and has been the supreme best at doing what he does. A role that is nit-picked for him, Kohli often anchors the innings for Team India, be it ODIs or T20Is. 

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Yashasvi Jaiswal and Rohit Sharma have been picked as first-choice openers in the Indian squad for the World Cup. Another strategy that the Indian management could opt for, is to deploy Virat Kohli up top, with Suryakumar Yadav batting at number three. 

Moreover, the stats paint a peculiar picture too, in favour of Virat Kohli. In IPL 2024, Kohli has outperformed India's preferred openers who have been picked for the upcoming T20I World Cup.

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Should Virat Kohli open for India at T20 World Cup? 

Virat Kohli has scored 661 runs in 13 innings in IPL 2024, compared to Rohit Sharma's 349, and Yashasvi Jaiswal's 348, in the same number of appearances, each. 

Kohli also has a better strike-rate, compared to his counterparts. And let us not forget, that the RCB talisman has been pounced on by the critics, for the same metric, more often than Sharma and Jaiswal.

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