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There have been reports from media house like Dainik Jagran that BCCI wants Rohit Sharma to lead T20 World Cup 2024 but the same hasn't been the case with the former Indian skipper Virat Kohli as he's not being preferred to play at number 3 position.
As per media reports the selectors and the Indian cricket board are looking for a player who can play attacking cricket from first ball of the game. Hence, the wicket-keeper batsman Ishan Kishan is likely to get a preference ahead of the experience campaigner like Virat Kohli.
Here, in this article we will see who can play that number 3 role suitably for Team India in T20Is.
Ishan Kishan in T20Is:
- Inns - 32
- Runs - 796
- Avg - 25.67
- S.R - 124.37
- 50s - 6
Here if we look, Ishan Kishan has played only five T20I games at number 3 or lower position.
Ishan Kishan scores in the recently concluded T20I series against Australia were 58(39), 52(32) & 0(5) respectively. He batted at number 3 position in all those games.
Ishan Kishan in IPL 2023:
- Inns - 15
- Runs - 454
- Avg - 30.27
- S.R - 144.27
All these games he played as opener for Mumbai Indians in IPL 2023.
Virat Kohli was last seen playing in T20Is during the semi-final match against England in T20 World Cup 2022. Kohli has been most consistent batter in T20 World Cups and he has been the highest run-scorer in T20I history despite not playing the game for more than a year.
Virat Kohli has been phenomenal with the bat in both IPL 2023 & World Cup 2023.
Virat Kohli in IPL 2023:
- Inns - 14
- Runs - 639
- Avg - 53.25
- S.R - 139.82
- 50s - 6; 100s - 2
Virat Kohli also played all his games as opener for RCB in IPL 2023 .
Virat Kohli in his T20I career has scored 4008 runs from 107 innings at an average of 52.73 with a strike rate of 137.96.
Virat Kohli has been much better batsman when it comes to consistency in T20Is, but when comparing from last IPL season, Ishan Kishan has a better strike rate than 'King Kohli'.
Ishan Kishan despite having the ability to hit the ball, has a poor record for playing too many dot balls while Virat Kohli on other hand, with his supreme fitness keeps rotating the strike and helps to tick the scorecard.
Virat Kohli has been the highest run-scorer for India in 2012 T20 World Cup, 2014 T20 World Cup, 2016 T20 World Cup, 2022 T20 World Cup and notably he has scored most runs in T20 World Cup history, which shows that his consistency with the bat has no match from around the world.
Ishan Kishan's two consecutive fifties in the recent series could tempt selectors to choose him for T20 World Cup 2024 as number 3 batsman, but however, IPL 2024 will provide most of the answers on who is expected to play that role in T20 World Cup 2024.
