Indian skipper Virat Kohli opened in the final T20I against England and scored an unbeaten 80 to help India reach a formidable total of 224 runs
Indian skipper Virat Kohli has confirmed that he will open the innings for Royal Challengers Bangalore in the upcoming season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) while speaking after his side's series win against England in the final T20I. India defeated England by 36 runs to clinch the series 3-2 after winning the last two games batting first.
Kohli, who opened the innings for India in the final game played a blistering knock of 80 runs off just 52 balls and anchored the innings as players like Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav and Hardik Pandya played around him, which helped the side get to a mammoth total of 224 runs against the No 1 team in the world.
Speaking at the post-match presentation, Kohli was asked if he will continue at the opener's slot given it worked wonders for him as well as the team, the skipper said, "Yes, I am going to open in the IPL as well. Look, I have batted at different positions in the past but I feel like we have a solid middle-order now and now it's about for the two best players getting a maximum number of balls in T20 cricket.
"I would definitely like to partner Rohit at the top. As I rightly said if we have a partnership and we both are set then you know that one of us is gonna cause some serious damage and that's exactly what we want and the other guys feel much more confident when one of us is still in and set and they know that they can play more freely so it augurs well for the team.
"I would like this to continue, hopefully continue that form till the world," the skipper added.
Opening for the first time in T20Is together, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli put on a 94-run stand for the first wicket in just nine overs as the leadership duo took the game away from the opposition in the first half of their innings. After which the likes of Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya came and they toyed with England's bowlers as they were unable to keep any of the four Indian batsmen at the bay. Kohli brought up his 28th half-century in the format and went to score 80 runs as India finished with a staggering total of 224 runs in their first innings.
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