For the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 edition, Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) have appointed former South Africa skipper Faf du Plessis as captain.
Virat Kohli, who relinquished RCB’s captaincy after the IPL 2021 season, will play only as a specialist batter.
Amid the speculations around Kohli’s batting position for the upcoming IPL, former India cricketer-turned-commentator Aakash Chopra has suggested RCB to send the former captain at No. 3.
According to Chopra, Virat batting at one down will provide stability to the batting order, which will be without the services of AB de Villiers, who has now taken retirement from all forms of cricket.
"Last year, when Kohli was opening the batting, a game of musical chairs was being played for the number three spot. They stopped at Srikar Bharat at the end but then sent him at number four too. We've seen this a lot in RCB's recent history that they shuffle the batting order a lot, but if you can identify the crucial positions beforehand, it would be better,” Aakash Chopra said in an interaction with ESPNCricinfo.
"Also, keep in mind that there's no AB de Villiers. When he was there, they were assured he would handle the situation from number four to five. Of course, you have Dinesh Karthik, but he isn't AB de Villiers. You will want Virat Kohli to take the game deep and stay on the pitch till the 14th or 15th over. So I'll say Virat Kohli at three," he added.
Ex-India opener Wasim Jaffer also endorsed Chopra’s viewpoint, saying he prefers to see Kohli bat at three.
"I prefer Virat Kohli batting at number three. I believe he can pace the game very well from there, whether he bats on the powerplay or later. He's somebody who takes some time initially, but then his strike rate progressively goes up. In the powerplay, it seems as if he forces himself a bit to hit by using the crease, which I don't think is his game. He's obviously been successful as well, but I think he plays better at number three. "
Virat Kohli has represented RCB in 207 IPL games, scoring 6283 runs at 37.40 and a strike rate of 129.95 with five centuries.
