IND vs AUS 2022: [Watch] Virat Kohli trains hard in Mohali nets ahead of 1st T20I
Virat Kohli trained hard in the nets on Sunday, September 18, for the first of the three T20Is against Australia, which will be played at Mohali's Punjab Cricket Association Stadium on Tuesday, September 20.
According to News18.com, Kohli was among the first in training. He had a 45-minute session with a focus on playing the pull shot against fast bowlers and stepping out against spinners.
Here's a short video from the session:
An absolute treat😍
Watch @imVkohli dedicatedly practicing his shots in the nets today during practice session
@gulzarchahal @BCCI @CricketAus
#gulzarchahal #1stT20I #pca #pcanews #punjabcricket #punjab #cricket #teamindia #indiancricketteam #punjabcricketnews #cricketnews https://t.co/ZKrCldbKbg
Both the pull shot and the step-out shots were on sublime display in the 33-year-old's last innings for India - 122* (61) against Afghanistan in the Asia Cup. It was his first T20I century and came as a major relief for India.
The pull shot had become his weakness in recent IPL seasons and his inability to maintain a good strike rate against spinners in the middle overs was only growing as an issue. India will want to believe that Kohli turned a corner with the ton.
"Virat Kohli is our third opener" - Rohit Sharma
Kohli's century came as an opener which reopened the debate about his batting position in T20 cricket. However, speaking in the pre-series press conference, Rohit Sharma clarified that Kohli is being seen as a "third opener", who'll usually slot in at No. 3 and will be an injury cover for the skipper and KL Rahul. Rohit said:
"It is an option (Virat Kohli opening) for us, we will always keep that in mind. Since we have not taken a third opener, he opens for his franchise in the IPL and he has done really well, so it is a definite option for us.
"Virat Kohli is our third opener and he will open in some of the games. In the last match of Asia Cup, we were happy with the way he played. But KL Rahul will open the batting in the World Cup, we do not want to experiment with that position a lot, his performance sometimes goes quite unnoticed."
The first T20I will begin at 7:30 pm IST on Tuesday.