Virat sets an example of real team man, gives up opening slot for Rahul & Rohit

Virat Kohli, the India skipper, batted as an opener in the recently concluded edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) in the UAE. There were speculations that he would open the innings in the T20 World Cup. Earlier, he had expressed his desire to play as an opener for Team India in the shortest format of the game.

However, after taking everything into consideration, the 32-year old player has decided to give up the opening slot in favour of Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul. Rohit is the undisputed number one opening batsman in the team and with Rahul’s sensational performance in the 14th edition of the cash-rich league, Virat thought of going ahead with the two in-form players.

Ahead of the warm-up game against England, Virat revealed that he would bat at the number three slot at the global event.

“Things were different before IPL started and now KL Rahul is playing the way he is, so it’s very hard to look past him at top of the order,” Kohli said. “Rohit is a no-brainer. He has been a world-class player right at the top of the order for us. I will be batting at three.”

In the 16 matches he has played at the previous three T20 World Cups, Kohli has always batted at No. 3.