Virat Kohli had no doubts about picking Chris Gayle.
Virat Kohli has picked his all-time best T20 opener. Interestingly, he ignored Rohit Sharma and preferred his former RCB teammate, Chris Gayle, after weighing multiple names in a candid video posted by RCB’s official account.
The video starts with Kohli being asked to pick one between Adam Gilchrist and Sunil Narine, and he rightly picks the former. Later, he pipped Gilchrist and chose Travis Head, but once Virender Sehwag’s name emerged, he stuck with him for a long stretch.
He picked Virender Sehwag ahead of Travis Head, Quinton de Kock, Shane Watson, Shikhar Dhawan, Faf du Plessis, and Brendon McCullum. Kohli remained firm on Sehwag even when Sachin Tendulkar’s name surfaced, stating that the former was better suited for T20 cricket, which was a fair assessment.
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Eventually, Chris Gayle’s name emerged, and he went with the Caribbean batter with a beaming smile on his face. Having shared plenty of cricket, Kohli had seen Chris Gayle win numerous games for RCB from close quarters over the years, so his preference was expected.
Finally, Virat Kohli was asked the toughest question: choosing between Rohit Sharma and Chris Gayle as the all-time best T20 opener. Confirming once again whether the question was about T20 cricket, Kohli had no doubts about picking Gayle over his Indian teammate, and rightly so.
Chris Gayle has indeed been the finest T20 opener, ticking almost every box in the parameters. His ability to read the match situation, target bowlers, and play long innings without compromising strike rate was second to none.
He is the leading run-scorer in the format, with 14562 runs at an average of 36.22 and a strike rate of 144.75 in 455 innings. No other batter has hit as many centuries as Gayle (22), and his 175* remains the highest ever T20 score.
As for Rohit Sharma, he is also a terrific opener with several remarkable achievements to his name, but his middling IPL record does not quite place him at the top in the format. That said, the T20 World Cup-winning captain still ranks among the finest T20 openers in the history of the game, with very few players able to reinvent their approach as late in their careers as Rohit.
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