‘Well that will hopefully stop one of the consistent questions’ - Mike Hesson reacts to Virat Kohli's call of opening the innings for RCB in IPL 2021

Indian skipper Virat Kohli has been phenomenal as the opening batsman in the shortest format of the game. The swashbuckling batsman has opened many times for his franchise Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League (IPL). However, the fifth T20I against England marked the rarest occasion when Kohli walked in to open alongside Rohit Sharma.

Rohit and Virat, opening the innings, worked like a charm for the Indian side as they gave India a dream start in the series-decider. Kohli emerged as the highest run-getter with 80 runs under his belt in just 52 deliveries at a strike rate of 153.85. Also, India were successful in posting a massive total of 224 runs on the scoreboard, and in the end, they emerged victorious by 36 runs.

In the post-match presentation, Virat didn’t speak much about opening the innings for India in the future but he definitely confirmed opening the innings for RCB in IPL 2021. It came as a big announcement ahead of the 14th edition of the T20 tournament as there were many speculations regarding who will open for RCB. 

While Devdutt Padikkal is deemed as the confirmed opener after his brilliant stint in the IPL 2020, hosted in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), there was confusion on who could be the second opener after the team released Aaron Finch. The news of Kohli opening the innings in the T20 extravaganza came as a relief for many fans of the Men in Red and Gold.

RCB share a post on Virat Kohli

The official Instagram handle of the Royal Challengers Bangalore also acknowledged the announcement made by their skipper regarding their opening combination. Posting a picture of Virat Kohli, RCB wrote, “Guess who’s back at the top of the order”.

Reacting to the post, RCB’s Director of cricket operations, Mike Hesson, took a cheeky jibe saying that he hopes that the people will now stop asking the question regarding the openers of the franchise.

“Well that will hopefully stop one of the consistent questions,” commented Hesson.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is all set to host the IPL 2021 from April 9 to May 30 in India across six venues.