IPL 2020: ‘Didn’t click,’ Sachin Tendulkar ‘surprised’ to see Virat Kohli open for RCB

IPL 2020: Virat Kohli, who had batted at No. 3 for the most part of the IPL, decided to promote himself at the top of the order along with Devdutt Padikkal, but his ploy did not work as he was out cheaply to SRH all-rounder Jason Holder.

When Virat Kohli walked out to open the innings for Royal Challengers Bangalore against Sunrisers Hyderabad during the IPL 2020 eliminator on Friday, many were left surprised including former India captain Sachin Tendulkar. Kohli, who had batted at No. 3 for the most part of the IPL, decided to promote himself at the top of the order along with Devdutt Padikkal hoping to provide RCB a good start. But his ploy did not work as he was out cheaply to SRH all-rounder Jason Holder.

File images of Virat Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar. (RCB/Getty)

Tendulkar credited Holder for bowling a tight line and length and reckoned that even though Kohli looked determined while opening, the bounce generated by Holder worked for Sunrisers.

“Holder’s opening spell was really good and I was surprised to see Virat open the innings. It was a different strategy which didn’t click. Virat looked positive but when Holder was bowling to him, he was trying to carve the line. He trying to cover Holder’s outswing, walking towards bowler to reduce the distance to cut the swing. But Holder gets more bounce than other bowlers as he’s very tall. And that’s what did the trick. Virat was beaten by the bounce,” Tendulkar said on his YouTube video.

“Immediately after that, he got Padikkal out, so he got two main players out, along with AB de Villiers. These three have stood like pillars for RCB this season and have contributed immensely. So Holder getting these two wickets was the game changer for me.”

Besides Holder, Tendulkar was pleased with the bowling effort of left-arm spinner Shahbaz Nadeem, whose spell the Indian great said he ‘enjoyed watching’. Nadeem along with leg-spinner Rashid Khan tested AB de Villiers, and even though the former South Africa captain got a half-century, left-arm spinner Nadeem in particular played a role in keeping de Villiers’ quiet, felt Tendulkar.

“The spinners also bowled well. Rashid always bowls well but even [Shahbaz] Nadeem bowled really well along with him. When he bowled to AB de Villiers, if you see the footwork, when he (de Villiers) doesn’t have the freedom to attack, he tries to attack the spinners off the backfoot. He was waiting to move a bit towards the leg stump,” Tendulkar pointed out.

“Had Nadeem bowled a bit short, he’d attack him off the backfoot. But wisely, Nadeem didn’t give him any room to free his arms to generate power. Whenever he moved towards leg stump, Nadeem would follow him. I really enjoyed watching that spell.”