In the ongoing edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL), the four qualified teams of the playoffs, are Mumbai Indians (RCB), Delhi Capitals (DC), Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). 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 RCB, 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 failed to accelerate in the middle overs against Delhi. He appreciated the great bowling effort of Ravi Ashwin and Axar Patel, who made it difficult for the RCB batsmen to score runs as they restricted them to the tally of a meager 152 runs.

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While commentating in the Sharjah game, Nehra had said, “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. 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.”

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 is playing a crucial role in strengthening the middle-order of his team.

Pathan had said, “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.”

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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.