Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) limped into the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 playoffs after incurring 4 successive defeats in the campaign. Having shown incredible promise and potential in the first half of the season, RCB have looked off steam in the recent matches. One of the reasons behind this slump for Virat Kohli & Co., as per ex-RCB pacer Ashish Nehra, is the batting unit.
Though there are quite a few Bengaluru batsmen who have produced runs in this campaign, including Devdutt Padikkal, Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers and even Aaron Finch on some occasions. Finch, however, didn’t look in the best of form in recent matches and was hence dropped in favour of Josh Philippe.
Though Philippe and Padikkal have shown promise together, Nehra isn’t of the opinion that the Aussie wicket-keeper batsman should be opening alongside the uncapped Indian. Instead, the former India pacer wants Kohli to take up the opening slot once again.
“There was a lot of pressure on Virat Kohli, considering the conditions. It was not easy to hit Ravichandran Ashwin and Axar Patel, who does not go for wickets that much but does not allow you to score runs easily. You need to appreciate the Delhi Capitals for not giving any chance to the RCB captain” Nehra said in the commentary box.
While Kohli’s struggles in the middle overs have been visible to all, Nehra feels if the right-hander opens the batting alongside Padikkal, such problems could be resolved.
“But in the upcoming encounters if you don’t want to play Aaron Finch, then I feel Kohli should come as the opening batsman in this team,” he asserted.
Kohli’s RCB finished the league stage at the No. 4 spot and now have to face Surnrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the Eliminator on Friday. A defeat in the contest will knock them out of the tournament while a victory will enable them to qualify for the Qualifier 2.
