Former cricketer Sunil Gavaskar spoke about Virat Kohli joining the national team for the T20 World Cup 2024. Sunil Gavaskar expressed confidence in Virat Kohli’s position in the Indian team for the marquee tournament, despite doubts raised by some.
Virat Kohli returned to India’s T20I team for the series against Afghanistan after a prolonged absence from the format. The star batsman opted out of the first match due to personal reasons. He scored 29 runs in the second match, followed by a duck in the last match.
Virat Kohli scores a lot of runs – Sunil Gavaskar
During a discussion on Star Sports, Sunil Gavaskar addressed whether Virat Kohli should be part of India’s squad for the T20 World Cup. Gavaskar stated that Kohli’s place in the team is unquestionable if he maintains his form during the IPL.
“Absolutely, because questions are being raised whether a young team should be chosen as we couldn’t win the ICC 50+ World Cup with this team. So for T20, which is called youth game, do we need young players?
“If you look at fitness and speed, Virat Kohli’s speed is better than some of the youngsters. If she has a good season, why shouldn’t she have a good season? If he scores a lot of runs on the Bangalore pitch and has also scored a lot of runs on the Mumbai pitch, so I don’t see any. questions about his place,” Gavaskar added.
The 35-year-old batsman returned to his form in the last edition of the IPL. Kohli amassed 639 runs in 14 matches at a remarkable average of over 53, including two centuries and six half-centuries. He was RCB’s second-highest scorer after captain Faf du Plessis.
It is worth mentioning that India played their last bilateral T20 series before the World Cup. The selectors will closely monitor the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 before finalizing the squad as the World Cup will begin a few weeks after the conclusion of the event.
Virat Kohli should be the second name chosen after captain – Sunil Gavaskar
Sunil Gavaskar said Virat Kohli should be the second choice after the captain in the T20 World Cup squad. Gavaskar believes that Kohli will perform well in the upcoming IPL, similar to his performance in the World Cup and the previous IPL season.
“When the selection committee meets, the captain will be present. That’s why he wants to show that he should be the second name chosen after the captain. To prove it, he will also perform like this this year, just like he did in the World Cup and also last year in the IPL,” Gavaskar added.
Kohli emerged as the leading run-getter in the ODI World Cup 2023. The right-handed batsman amassed 765 runs in 11 innings at an impressive average of 95.62 and a decent strike rate of 90.31.
Also Read: ‘When Virat Kohli and KL Rahul return…’ – Pragyan Ojha feels these batsmen will be dropped from Test squad