'It's not that the way we want him to bat,': Sanjay Bangar speaks on Virat Kohli's T20 WC struggles

In a highly anticipated Group stage clash tomorrow at 8:00 PM in the World T20 2024, India faces off against Canada at the Central Broward Regional Park. With an overwhelming win probability, the Indian team, led by captain Rohit Sharma, has already secured a spot in the Super 8 of the competition after being a dominant force in the T20 World Cup so far. Canada, which needs wonders, will look to make a statement against the dominant Indian squad which is unbeatable in the competition so far.

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Sanjay Bangar wants Virat Kohli to stick with Rohit Sharma as an opener for Team India despite failure in the T20 WC

Sanjay Bangar supports Virat Kohli in keeping his opening role for India even if he hasn't played well in the T20 World Cup 2024 matches thus far. So far in the tournament, Kohli has only scored five runs in three games.

Shifting Kohli's batting stance could unsettle other important players like Rishabh Pant and Suryakumar Yadav, according to former India batting coach Bangar. He contends that the team's performance in the next games depends on the batting lineup remaining consistent.

After an incredible Indian Premier League season in which he amassed over 700 runs at a strike rate of over 150 for Bengaluru, Virat Kohli went into the T20 World Cup. He may have one more chance to win an ICC title for India after 13 years if he can maintain this momentum into the World Cup. But with an average of just 1.66, including a "Golden Duck" against the USA, Kohli's performance has been lacklustre.

During a Star Sports conversation, Bangar emphasised Kohli's adaptability and his outstanding IPL performance, in which he showed an aggressiveness. Bangar thinks that starting Kohli as an opener is the best course of action for India to take in the tournament and is still confident in Virat Kohli's ability to adjust and perform in that role. Sanjay Bangar said: 

"Yes, he had a fabulous IPL and he played at a pace which wasn't really seen in recent years. So that sort of raised the expectation that he would go to the US and West Indies and play in that particular fashion," 

 "This is something that is not dependent on a particular batsman. He will obviously assess the situation, assess the conditions, and bat accordingly. So it's not that the way we want him to bat, he is going to bat. He will bat differently," 

"Coming at this point, changing his batting position will sort of also lead to unsettling the other batsmen like you have settled and contributing number three in Rishabh Pant. You want to have somebody like Shivam Dube at five. Surya has got to bat at four. So in a way, the batting has sort of settled," 

“It's not that Virat hasn't scored runs for India, opening the batting in T20 internationals. He hasn't done that for India in the World Cup, so it's just a matter of time,”

Virat Kohli will look to bounce back against Canada as he will look to turn the tides for India in a dominant way for the Super 8, where India will need his heroics to end the nation’s ICC trophy drought since 2013.