Virat Kohli surprised everyone when he decided to open the innings with Rohit Sharma in the fifth T20I against England. The series was tied 2-2 and with regular opener KL Rahul struggling for form, the Indian skipper decided to promote himself to the top of the order. And the experiment worked wonders as the duo stitched a blazing 94-run partnership for the first wicket.
While Rohit Sharma was the aggressor at the start, Virat Kohli patiently rotated the strike. Rohit Sharma departed after scoring 64 off 34 balls but he had already put India in a comfortable position. The captain took the onus after his partner’s wicket as he stayed till the end to take his side’s total to 224 runs.
Virat Kohli Snd Rohit Sharma Opening Reminded Michael Vaughan Of Virender Sehwag And Sachin Tendulkar
Virat Kohli remained unbeaten on 80 as India won the game by 36 runs to clinch the series. Former England skipper Michael Vaughan was highly impressed with the duo as he said that the duo reminded him of ‘Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar’.
“Sometimes you just need a little bit of luck and stumble across the right batting order. India has done that with Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma opening. I’m sure that was not their intention at the start of the series. But today they reminded me of Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar.”
“In T20 innings, you have 120 balls to spread across your players so if you are India then you want Virat and Rohit to face the maximum amount. The rest of the Indian lineup can go for it because they know Virat will play in such a solid way,” Vaughan wrote in an article for Telegraph.
“The other three batsmen around Virat today scored 135 runs in 68 balls. He scored 80 off 52 so it was the perfect T20 innings. India learned from the fourth game when Kohli came in and there was not enough time left in the innings.”
India and England will now play in a three-match ODI series that begins on Tuesday in Pune. Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag had amassed 3919 runs in 93 ODI innings averaging 42.14 as openers.
Virat Kohli Awarded Man Of The Series For Being Leading Run Scorer
Rohit Sharma smashed 64 from just 34 balls while Virat Kohli made 22 off 20 as the two laid a solid foundation for a big score which was finally achieved. India had been struggling at the top of the order with KL Rahul scoring 1,0,0, 14 in the first four T20Is, Virat Kohli had backed KL Rahul to come well up until the final match as his patience finally ran out with the Karnataka batsman.
Virat Kohli top-scored with 80 not out as India reached 224 for 2 in 20 overs. The 80 is his highest score as an opener in T20Is. He has amassed 278 runs averaging 39.72 with 2 fifties in 8 innings atop the order. Virat Kohli was the highest run-getter in the series and was awarded Man of the Series for scoring 231 runs averaging 115.5 in 5 games despite two scores of 0 and 1.
India’s vice-captain Rohit Sharma made it clear on Saturday that Virat Kohli opening the innings in the 5th T20I against England was a one-off decision as they wanted to play an extra bowler in T Natarajan and therefore, had to drop out-of-form KL Rahul from their final XI.
The skipper and his deputy Rohit Sharma laid the foundation for the mammoth score with an opening partnership worth 94 runs in just 9 overs. The batting performance was backed up by the bowlers with pacers Shardul Thakur (3 for 45) and Bhuvneshwar Kumar (2 for 15) playing the starring roles with the ball to help India restrict England to 188 for 8 and win the series-decider by 36 runs.