Virat Kohli not to open for Bangalore franchise in Indian T20 League 2023, Alternative openers identified - Reports

Virat Kohli has been an integral part of the Bangalore franchise since the opening season of the Indian T20 League. However, in the last season, he played as a pure batter under the leadership of Faf du Plessis. In the 2021 season, he left the captaincy of that franchise. Throughout all these years, Virat has played at the number three position mainly.

But, sometimes, he also batted as an opener for the need of his team. Now, like other franchises, Bangalore are also preparing for the mini-auction on 23 December 2022 in Kochi. Several reports were there that Kohli might get the opportunity to open again in the upcoming season. 

Here is the report:

🚨 | Reports

Some Reports suggest that RCB may target Mayank Agarwal & N Jagdesan is as an alternative due to low purse if bid on Mayank is beyond their reach.#mayankagarwal #rcb #ipl2023 #IPL2023Auction #IPLAuction #iplauction2023 #topedgecricket #CricketTwitter pic.twitter.com/udugSCEECJ

— Top Edge Cricket (@topedge_cricket) December 20, 2022

Virat Kohli scored only 341 runs in 16 matches for Bangalore in the Indian T20 League 2022

Now, reports are circulating that Bangalore are going to consider Virat Kohli as a number three batter only. They will target Mayank Agarwal in the auction. If they failed, then they will go for Narayan Jagadeesan. Virat Kohli scored just 341 runs in 16 matches in the 2022 edition of this tournament.

Speaking of Mayank Agarwal, he will be available for the base price of INR 1 Crore. Last season, he was the captain of the Punjab franchise and scored 196 runs in 13 matches at an average of 16.33. On the other hand, Narayan Jagadeesan made headlines recently when he smashed 277 runs off 141 runs against Arunachal Pradesh in Vijay Hazare Trophy. 

In that tournament, he was the highest run-scorer as Jagadeesan scored 830 runs in eight matches, at an average of 138.33 and a strike rate of 125.37. His base price will be INR 20 lakhs. On the other hand, Virat Kohli has played 223 matches in the Indian T20 League and scored 6624 runs, at an average of 36.20. He is the all-time highest run-scorer in the history of this tournament so far. Kohli has managed to hit 44 fifties and five tons in this tournament for Bangalore.