- Thursday, May 09, 2024
The ace India batter did not play in the recent five-Test series against England at home due to personal reasons.
By: Shubham Ghosh
NOT many could believe their eyes and ears after a news report suggested a few days ago that ace Indian batter Virat Kohli may not be part of his country’s campaign for the T20 World Cup coming up in the West Indies and the US in June. It was claimed that the 35-year-old, who is still one of the fittest cricketers around, might have to make way for younger blood as ‘slow wicket doesn’t suit him’.
It was also said that the Indian cricket board was expected to speak to Kohli to decide on the road ahead for the former India captain who is approaching the final part of his illustrious career.
Kohli did not play in the eventful five-Test series against England that just concluded with India winning 4-1 as his actor wife Anushka Sharma gave birth to their son Akaay in London. His last international appearance was in January when he scored a duck against Afghanistan in a T20 match at home.
Read: Kohli congratulates India after hosts clinch England Test series
However, the batter will soon be in action in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 which is set to kick off on March 22. His Royal Challengers Bangalore will lock horns with defending champions Chennai Super Kings in the very first match in Bengaluru.
Former India off-spinner Harbhajan Singh, who was once Kohli’s teammate in the national side, was not ready to believe that the former would be ignored for the T20 World Cup and expressed confidence that Kohli’s return to cricket in the IPL will mark the beginning of a new era for the batter. Singh also believed that Kohli will play the IPL with the hope of being picked in India’s T20 World Cup squad and end his long wait for an International Cricket Council silverware.
Read: Virat Kohli, Anushka Sharma welcome their second child ‘Akaay’, a boy
Speaking on his YouTube channel, the 43-year-old former bowler said, “The IPL is coming and then there is the World Cup. Virat Kohli’s bat will make the same noise as before, probably louder. Of course, Virat has [unfinished business]. That World Cup trophy. He last won it when he was not Virat, but Cheeku.
“Won the World Cup in his first attempt but that’s the funny part about fortune. But from there, Kohli went on to become such a big player but without a World Cup – he played 2015, 2019 and now 2023 too. But still the trophy hasn’t come home, so he would be lamenting it.”
Kohli won the 50-over cricket World Cup in 2011 when he was a youngster in the team and came very close to winning it in 2023 when India lost to Australia in the final with the batter himself accumulating more than 760 runs in the tournament at an average of more than 95.
In the T20 World Cups, too, Kohli came very close to winning a trophy like in the 2014 and 2016 editions but India failed in the final and semi-final, respectively.
As captain, too, Kohli has not been able to lead his country to a World Cup trophy in either format — be it in the 50-over World Cup in England in 2019 or the T20 World Cup in the UAE in 2021.
The 2024 World Cup might be the final one for Kohli as by the time the 2027 World Cup in 50 overs in South Africa arrives, the ace batter will be 39. Singh believes Kohli will look to end his career with at least one more World Cup as he could not digest that not happening.
“A player like Virat Kohli not winning a World Cup? I can’t digest it. No matter how many records he makes, how many runs he scores, as far as I know, his hunger will never diminish. And a major part of it is to lift that shiny trophy. Every player’s ultimate dream is to win a World Cup trophy. Your records remain for you until the end. But people don’t remember records; they remember trophies,” he said.
Kohli’s strike rate in the T20s in the West Indies is 141.77, while in the USA, it is 103.27.
Singh, India’s fourth highest wicket taker in Tests, was also in the Indian squad that lifted the 2011 World Cup at home.
