Indian captain Virat Kohli had confirmed after the fifth and final T20I of the series against England that he would be opening the innings for the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the upcoming edition of the Indian Premier League. Kohli, who usually bats at no.3 in the shortest format and the fifty-over formats, opened with Rohit Sharma in the 5th T20I to accommodate Suryakumar Yadav at 3 -- a decision which reaped rewards as India posted a mammoth total of 224/2.
RCB'S Director of Cricket Operations Mike Hesson has now opened up on the development, saying that the decision on Kohli opening the innings was taken before the IPL auction in February.
"Certainly, we talked about it before the auction because that came in our auction planning in terms of how we wanted to structure our lineup, so certainly no surprise there," Hesson said.
Kohli had remained unbeaten on 80 off 52 deliveries in the T20I, as India registered a 36-run victory to win the series 3-2.
"(I'm) delighted that he got an opportunity for India to open the other day and show everybody exactly what he's capable of. We certainly know that but just another reminder for everybody. So yeah, really looking forward to Virat opening the batting with Devdutt (Padikkal). You know, left right combination, obviously different types of players and obviously we know Virat's record after he gets through the powerplay, he's phenomenal. So especially if he bats at the top, it's a slightly different structure and as I said, that helped determine our auction planning as well," Hesson further said.
AB de Villiers had also returned to wicketkeeping in the previous edition of the tournament, but RCB roped in specialist wicketkeepers in the IPL auction this year -- Mohammad Azharuddeen and KS Bharat.
"We were delighted with the fact he (AB de Villiers) loved it (wicketkeeping), he embraced it and he wanted to continue doing it. So look, he's a real option," said Hesson.
"We've now got another couple of options which is great in the squad. Mohammad Azharuddeen is a real natural athlete whether he's with the gloves or in the field, you know we've also got KS Buddha who's a specialist keeper. (It) gives us different options as well.
"We're not going to make a commitment in terms of who's going to do what but we're really pleased with the options we've got."
