Accumulator vs Aggressor: Which Virat Kohli do India need in Super 8s?

Virat Kohli has scored a total of 5 runs in the group stage of the T20 World Cup 2024. Kohli, one of the greatest batters of all time has not been able to transfer his Indian Premier League form to the international stage, unlike Jasprit Bumrah, who has been in riveting touch. Kohli’s returns of 4,1 and 0 have not caught the ire of fans due to his renewed approach at the top of the order. Kohli has shown aggressive intent while opening with Rohit Sharma, and we all know that the downside to that approach is that the batter runs the risk of getting out early.

Given that India played on a terrible track in New York’s Nassau County International Stadium, Kohli’s form was not questioned. Also, the brilliance of the Indian bowling unit meant that India comfortably beat USA, Ireland and managed to get a clinical job done against Pakistan as well.

Now, it is expected that the West Indies will have much better surfaces for batting in the tournament. In that case, Virat Kohli probably becomes more important for India as the team would seek his experience in the low and slow conditions. Virat Kohli’s ability to keep the strike moving and find angles in the field might be worth in gold in those games.

Hence, the real question is, whether Virat Kohli should continue his risky approach or play his usual role of accumulator in the Super 8 stages.

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THE VALUE OF IPL

Virat Kohli was heavily criticised for his role as an accumulator in the Indian Premier League 2024. Kohli scored a lot of runs in the first half of the tournament, which included a century against RR in Jaipur. A section of fans criticised Kohli for his slow century off 67 balls, which was eventually trumped by Jos Buttler’s ton in the second innings.

An angry and agitated Kohli came out in the second half of the tournament and blasted his way to quick cameos of 40-50 runs, which really formed the base of RCB’s revival in the second half of the tournament. More importantly, it allowed other players to slightly measure their knocks, because now, they could face more balls.

The approach worked wonders, and RCB reached the playoffs, winning 6 games in a row.

CANNOT HAVE IT BOTH WAYS

It would be extremely unfair on Kohli if one were to argue that it was a major concern that he has been getting out early. Kohli is now following a much riskier template, something that he has not done in his entire career. Criticising him for his intent at the top order would amount to massive hypocrisy.

The senior batter tried the role of an accumulator in the last few ICC tournaments, which did not really go down well for India and its fans. In those matches, Virat tried to bat longer, rather than playing innings that would have been more impactful.

The new version of Kohli might just be the key that India needs to unlock their full strength of the batting line-up. What is even the point of playing in the same, predictable manner, which has shown its flaws in crucial stages in the tournament? If India are to win the T20 World Cup, they have to evolve with the times. They have to play the power game and let their deep batting line-up take the stage.

Yes, it would not be possible to score runs every single day, but at least the likes of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma would not eat into too many balls before getting out. Kohli’s evolution will now allow the Indian batting order follow suit and break out of their safe approach, which hampered things last time around. With the likes of Rishabh Pant, Suryakumar Yadav to follow, Kohli throwing caution to the wind could be the formula for success as India chase their 2nd T20 World Cup.