If RCB don't want to play Aaron Finch, then Virat Kohli should open the batting: Ashish Nehra

In the current season of the Indian Premier League, three teams have qualified for the playoffs, and they are Mumbai Indians, Delhi Capitals, and Royal Challengers Bangalore. RCB and DC faced each other in their latest fixture, and the latter dominated the show to seal the second spot in the points tally.

Talking of the Challengers, former pacer Ashish Nehra believes that the team should open with skipper Virat Kohli if they don’t want to include Aaron Finch in their playing XI. Nehra was asked about RCB’s innings when they were not able to put up a great show against Delhi in the middle overs.

He appreciated the great bowling effort of Ravi Ashwin and Axar Patel, which made it difficult for the RCB batters to accelerate the innings. Ashwin and Axar churned out extraordinary spells, restricting RCB to a meagre 152 runs.

“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.

“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,” Nehra was quoted as saying while being on commentary during the game in Sharjah.

In the same light, Irfan Pathan stated that Virat Kohli should only open the batting if the rest of the order is strong enough to deal with the pressure. Otherwise, as per the southpaw, the RCB skipper should play to strengthen the middle-order of his team.

You need a batsman in the middle who runs the game: Irfan Pathan

“Virat Kohli should open if they play an additional batsman. If you are playing all-rounders from No.5 to No.7, it means you are reducing your batting. You need a batsman in the middle who runs the game. If Virat Kohli comes up and gets out, there is no one in the middle to run the game.”

Ashish Nehra also added that Moeen Ali could also be the option if they are looking for a batting option in the middle order of their team.