3 ways Afghanistan can stop Virat Kohli from scoring big in 2nd T20I vs India
After missing out on the series opener, Virat Kohli is all set to return to the Indian team for the second T20I against Afghanistan in Indore on Sunday.
With the Men in Blue having a few options at the top of the order, Kohli might not get his preferred opening role. The former Indian skipper could have to settle for batting at No. 3, where he has had concerns with his strike rate in the past.
Afghanistan will be wary of the threat posed by Kohli, though. The superstar batter has come up with meaningful contributions in T20Is for over a decade now and is an out-and-out match-winner on any given day.
Here are three ways in which Afghanistan can stop Virat Kohli from scoring big in the second T20I against India.
#3 Afghanistan need to beef up their spin attack
Surprisingly, even as India picked three spinners and just two fast bowlers, Afghanistan went in with a pace-heavy attack in the series opener. The move didn't pay off as Mujeeb Ur Rahman was left without much support.
Afghanistan can't afford to make the same mistake again, this time against a middle order that will have Kohli in it. There's no doubt that the veteran batter is more at ease against pace than spin and the numbers back that claim up.
It's a well-known fact that in the Indian Premier League (IPL), Kohli has had one of the worst strike rates against spin over the last few seasons. Over the last five campaigns, he has struck at just 112.19, the fourth-worst among all batters to have faced 300 or more balls.
The visitors need to have more spinners in their ranks. Noor Ahmad and Qais Ahmad are the contenders to be brought into the fray, and Mujeeb will also benefit from having wrist-spin pressure from the other end.
#2 Afghanistan shouldn't be afraid to bowl Mohammad Nabi
Generally, off-spinners don't bowl when a right-hander is at the crease these days. That was the case in the first T20I as well, when Jitesh Sharma's presence forced Afghanistan to keep Mohammad Nabi out of the attack.
However, in the second T20I, Ibrahim Zadran shouldn't hesitate to bring Nabi on while Kohli is at the crease. In T20s, the 35-year-old has a strike rate of just 116.42 against off-spinners. He has cleared the boundary only 34 times in 135 innings.
There are plenty of left-handers around Kohli in the middle order, with Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rinku Singh, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, and Washington Sundar all in line to feature for India. That should only increase Afghanistan's need to bring on an off-spinner while Kohli bats, although Jaiswal and Dube are excellent against that style of bowling.
#1 Virat Kohli might enjoy batting against the Afghanistan fast bowlers
Afghanistan need to be careful with respect to bringing on their fast bowlers against Virat Kohli, who has enjoyed success against them in the past.
Kohli has scored 36 runs off Fazalhaq Farooqi at a strike rate of 257.14 without being dismissed in T20s. Naveen-ul-Haq and Azmatullah Omarzai have bowled only nine balls to the experienced batter, but they have never been able to see the back of him either.
Afghanistan can't afford to feed pace to a well-set Kohli, especially with their head-to-head records being in favor of the Indian batter. Even if they bring on one of the fast bowlers to target the batter at the other end, they need to take the pace off while bowling to Kohli.