Former India player turned veteran commentator Aakash Chopra believes Virat Kohli and the Indian team management have given birth to suggestions about him being demoted in the batting order to accommodate Ishan Kishan, Shubman Gill, and Rohit Sharma as well. However, Kohli scored 129 runs which came at an average of 64.50 and a strike rate of 114.15 in his three innings in the recently concluded Asia Cup 2023. He hit an unbeaten 122 in India’s record-breaking 228-run Super Four win against Pakistan as well.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra said: “There was a discussion before the start of the tournament, you would remember that Ravi bhai (Shastri) asked Virat Kohli to be sent at No. 4 because Ishan Kishan, Shubman Gill and Rohit Sharma should be the top three. A lot of people endorsed that as well. There won’t be a discussion about where Virat Kohli will play. If Ishan Kishan has to play, he will play at No. 4 or No. 5 only. He will not come up the order because Rohit, Shubman and Kohli are your best top three, you shouldn’t touch them.”

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On the other hand, Ishan Kishan batted in the middle order for the majority of the Asia Cup but was promoted to open in the final as India were chasing a mere 51-run target, which they achieved in just 6.1 overs with 10 wickets in hand as well. And, Aakash Chopra also added that Shubman Gill has also sealed his place as Rohit Sharma’s opening partner ahead of Ishan Kishan also.

“I think MS Prasad was saying that we can open with Ishan Kishan and Shubman Gill can be made to bat down the order or be dropped. Shubman Gill said that he is here to stay. The century he hit and the way he batted, there won’t be a discussion again about where Shubman Gill will play. There were a few questions that were left unanswered. There are questions over Shreyas Iyer’s fitness and Suryakumar Yadav’s ODI cricket. There are still questions about Tilak Varma,” Aakash Chopra concluded.