Ravi Shastri gives his opinion on Virat Kohli's batting position for the RCB in the IPL 2022

It is argued that Kohli should remain at No.3 for RCB, and others think Kohli should remain at No.1.

Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) are hotly arguing over Virat Kohli’s position ahead of the 15th season of the IPL. As some believe Kohli should open for RCB, he should return to the No.3 spot to strengthen the batting order. 

Kohli will be back in the RCB lineup for the IPL 2021 since Rohit Sharma will open for India at the T20 World Cup later that year. It was during that season that he had a batting average of 28.9 and a strike rate of 119.5 for 339 runs and three half-centuries for the Royals. Prior to that, however, Kohli played consistently at No.3 for the Royal Challengers Bangalore. Kohli’s batting position was criticized by former India coach Ravi Shastri on Thursday. ”Depending on the composition of the team. I don’t know how strong their middle order is, but Virat could open if they have one,” Shastri stated.

If Kohli opens in a T20 side, his declining returns in the middle overs (7-15) are a great indicator, as he scores 6.67 runs per over since 2019 in the IPL, hitting a boundary every 12.7 balls, or more than two overs. A boundary occurs every 5.2 balls for Kohli against the new ball, with a run rate of 7.8 per over. ”The opening pair of Kohli and du Plessis will provide RCB with the much-needed solid openers, leaving the uncapped Indian Anuj Rawat at No.3 before Dinesh Karthik and Glenn Maxwell follow him. A strong batting order can be maintained if Kohli bats one down,” he concluded.