Matthew Hayden backed Virat Kohli to turn his fortunes in the Super Eights stage of the T20 World Cup 2024, after falling for single-digit scores in all the three innings he has played so far in the marquee event.
The legendary Australian batter opined that Kohli’s understanding of the conditions in the Caribbean and ability to adjust to the variables is going to stand him in good stead as India play their three Super Eight matches in Barbados, Antigua, and St Lucia.
“Kohli in any conditions is a world-class batter. These [Caribbean] are venues where you have to construct an innings and think about the kind of realistic totals that are possible in these different venues,” Hayden said on Star Sports Press Room.
“Outside of St Lucia, par scores are in the range of 160-170 and Virat, with all his experience, will be able to work out what to do, like hitting spin towards the windward side, depending on how significant it is. Look, conditions in the USA were extremely tough, no one likes that. Everyone wants to see these great champions playing freely. But it’s not necessarily going to be the case. That’s why experience counts,” he added.
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Kohli had a tremendous Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 campaign heading into the World Cup, as he finished as the leading run-getter, with 741 runs in 15 innings at a strike rate of 154.69, his highest in an IPL season. However, in his three outings in the 20-team tournament so far, the Delhi batter has only scored 1, 4 and 0 respectively.
Virat at 3, I don’t think we’ll get the best out of him: Hayden
Haydos backed the Indian team management’s decision to continue opening with Kohli in the tournament. The cricketer-turned-commentator reckoned that the talismanic batter’s skills won’t be optimally utilised if he bats lower in the order.
“I said it during the IPL as well, if Kohli was going to be in the team, he needs to open. Virat at three, I don’t think we’ll get the best out of him. You can’t just turn up and blast 250 on these wickets, you need thinking cricketers,” Hayden said.
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The ex-opener also suggested that Kohli should try to keep his strike rate high and make good use of the powerplay overs, as catching up in the backend of the innings isn’t easy on the Caribbean surfaces.
“He needs to continue to have a great strike rate. We’ve clearly seen a pattern emerge here at the World Cup where those six overs [powerplay], you have to be in front of the game. It’s too hard to catch up. If you’re looking at the back-half of the game, it’s trouble. You must be clinical in the first ten,” Hayden said.
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