If India decide to play T10, Virat Kohli has to be in Playing XI – Ashish Nehra

Virat Kohli played his last T20I as Team India’s skipper against Namibia in the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup. Despite the presence of star cricketers, the Men in Blue failed to reach the semis of the tournament. Virat Kohli, who is the leading run-scorer in the shortest format of the game, scored just one fifty in the global event. He was lambasted for his poor display with the bat against New Zealand.

Following India’s disastrous campaign, there were speculations over Kohli’s place in the T20I side. Former Indian bowler Ashish Nehra, however, feels Virat is one of the most important members of the team.

“He has to continue in T20Is because the next T20 World Cup will be in Australia, which has big grounds like the UAE. Plus, you are likely to get better pitches in Australia than the UAE,” Nehra said on Cricbuzz.

“Even in this tournament, during the game against Pakistan, Kohli made an important contribution. If you keep him out and go entirely with aggressive batters like Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant and Hardik Pandya as your no.3, 4, and 5, it won’t work every time. No one can provide stability to a batting order better than Virat Kohli,” said Nehra.

Nehra further added that Kohli, Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul add a much-needed experience to the T20I side.

“Your top-2 has Rohit and Rahul, and then Virat Kohli. You need a good combination of experience and youth,” said Nehra.

“In recent times, we have seen more aggressive batters in the Indian team. Among such power-hitters, even if India decide to play T10, Virat Kohli has a big role to play.”