Former Pakistan lanky fast bowler Mohammad Irfan has slammed Virat Kohli’s critics. Irfan said those questioning Virat Kohli’s place in the T20 World Cup squad belong in gully cricket. According to reports in the Telegraph, the Ajit Agarkar-led selection panel might drop Kohli from India’s T20 World Cup squad.
However, Kohli has performed consistently in all three formats and he is almost irreplaceable in the middle order as long as he is playing at the top level. Kohli recently returned to T20I format in the three-match T20I series against Afghanistan.
The talisman missed the five-match Test series against England due to a personal reason and will now return to action in the upcoming Indian Premier League 2024 for Royal Challengers Bangalore.
Meanwhile, Kohli played a magnum opus knock of 82 runs in the T20 World Cup 2022 against Pakistan at the MCG when India had their backs against the wall.
“He won the matches in recent times, it’s not fair to raise questions on his place. Those questioning Virat Kohli’s place in the T20 World Cup belong in gully cricket. I don’t have any second thoughts about it, you can’t make your team without Virat Kohli because he is a very big batsman,” said Irfan on News24.
On the other hand, Virat Kohli finished the ODI World Cup as the highest run-getter with 765 runs in 11 matches at an average of 95.62 and a strike rate of 90.32. Ergo, he was awarded Player of the Tournament for his consistent performances.
“We all saw what he did in the ODI World Cup last year, Virat Kohli won 3-4 matches in the World Cup for India on his own. If Kohli didn’t step up on that occasion, India would have lost 3-4 matches including group-stage matches against Australia and New Zealand where India lost early wickets. He finished the match on his own,” added Irfan.
The former left-arm seamer added that strike rate is crucial in the T20I format as it is crucial for the batter to hit the ground running.
“Strike rate is crucial in T20 format, if you play more balls then the pressure starts mounting on your team. If you score 30 off 10 balls then the next batsman will feel less pressure but if you score run-a-ball then things will be difficult for other batters,” said Irfan.
India will begin their T20 World Cup campaign against Ireland on June 5th.
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