'I think one could afford to drop...' - West Indies legend's subtle advice to Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma ahead of Super 8 clash in T20 World Cup 2024

The pitches in the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2024 are nothing like the Indian pitches in IPL 2024, where the batters were constantly scoring 250+ runs, including 100+ runs in the powerplays. In the West Indies, the pitches are more suitable for the bowlers and making the batters uncomfortable most of the time with the uneven bounce. Now that India will be playing their first game in the West Indies, legendary batter Brian Lara has some pretty good advice for the openers, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. 

While both haven't fired up in the tournament yet, the pressure will only increase after this. Hence, instead of going after the bowlers together, Lara advised one of the batters to 'anchor' the innings, which would benefit the team. 

"They're two world-class players. But sometimes, in terms of putting together a partnership in the Caribbean, you think well, you know 60-70 runs in the powerplay would be a great start. I think one could afford to drop anchor, but it all depends, you know, on match-ups. If you feel that, as a batter, that you are better equipped than the other player to do well against a bowler, then you do that," said Lara while speaking to Star Sports. 

This seems to be good advice since Rohit can strike the ball, which is his natural game, while Kohli likes to settle down first before going after the bowler. If both batters come to a common conclusion, then the problem will be solved for the team since the upcoming matches will be really challenging. 

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The critical question: Should Virat Kohli open?

Playing cricket for over 15 years has brought Virat Kohli to a stage where criticism doesn't affect him much. He has gone way past criticism and minds his own business most of the time. While criticisms have never left his way, the most recent one is his batting position. Before the start of the World Cup, experts and fans were all in favour of Kohli opening the innings along with Rohit Sharma. 

However, after three disappointing performances (1, 4, 0), people have come to the conclusion that Kohli should come down the order at No. 3 and Yashasvi Jaiswal should open. While this sounds extremely funny to those people who know Kohli and have followed him throughout his career. Recently, Ravichandran Ashwin said, "There is no chance for a player like Virat Kohli to damage his confidence. He will say, 'You brought me down to number 3; I will show you who I am." Well, this pretty much sums up the critical question: Should Virat Kohli open? 

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