This could be captain Virat Kohli’s surprise move in the T20 tie vs England

Virat Kohli could kick-off his T20I captaincy with a surprise move to open the batting as he kept his choices for the position close to his chest

Virat Kohli, who will make his debut as India skipper in Twenty20 Internationals in the first game against England on Thursday, is the batsman the team looks up to regardless of the format.

Virat Kohli will make his debut as full-time India T20 captain against England in the first of a three-T20 series. (PTI)

Virat Kohli, particularly hailed as the world’s best batsman when it comes to chasing a target, is not averse to playing an altogether new role.

India go into the series with two young openers. KL Rahul didn’t have a great ODI series while teenaged powerhouse from Delhi, Rishabh Pant, is as yet an untested quantity in international cricket at the senior level.

Manish Pandey and Suresh Raina are middle-order batsmen with only Mandeep Singh the other top-order batting choice.

So, Virat Kohli didn’t give away much when pushed to say who will open the batting.

“I have only opened once or maybe twice for India, but I have experience opening in the IPL. If need be then I could or I might not depending on the balance of the side. There are all kinds of possibilities,” he said on the eve of the match.