New Delhi: Star India batter Virat Kohli will have one final opportunity on Saturday to showcase his calibre after going through a dismal run in the ongoing T20 World Cup 2024. The blockbuster final of the marquee event will be played between India and South Africa, the two undefeated sides of the tournament and former India skipper Sourav Ganguly has shown belief in Kohli to come good in the all-important clash.
The right-handed batter has endured a flop show in the tournament so far, having scored just 75 runs in seven innings at an average of 10.71 and a strike rate of 100. After a successful run in the IPL 2024 for RCB, Kohli’s batting position was shifted to one of the openers by the Indian management in hopes of Kohli faring good, but… that hasn’t been the case yet.
In the semi-final clash against England, Kohli did show intent by hitting a fantastic six off Reece Topley but the pacer had the last laugh, bowling him out in the same over on a score of nine. There has been a huge noise for shifting Kohli down to his original position i.e. no. 3 and bringing in Yashasvi Jaiswal as the opener. However, the ex-BCCI president feels Kohli should continue to open.
“Virat should continue to open. He just had a World Cup of 700 runs seven months ago. He is human. Sometimes, he will also fail, and you have to accept it,” PTI quoted Ganguly as saying.
“People like Kohli, Tendulkar, Dravid, they are institutions for Indian cricket. Three-four matches don’t make them weaker players. Don’t rule him out in the final tomorrow,” he added.
Rohit Sharma on Virat Kohli’s form
Even Rohit Sharma, the Indian skipper has placed his faith in Kohli, hoping that the star batter will shine on the big final stage. The match will be played at the Kensington Oval in Barbados.
“He (Kohli) is a quality player. Any player can go through (dip in form) that. We do understand his class and we do understand his importance in all these big games. Form is never a problem. When you’ve played cricket for 15 years, form is never a problem. He’s looking good, the intent is there, he’s probably saving for the final,” Rohit had said in the post-match presentation India thrashed England.
India had won the inaugural 2007 T20 World Cup and their last World Cup win came in 2011. Their last ICC silverware is the 2013 Champions Trophy and the team has since been on a long trophy drought. The Men in Blue will be aiming to end their knockout jinx in front of a team that has made it to an ICC final for the very first time.
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Virat Kohli has endured a flop show in the T20 World Cup 2024 so far, having scored just 75 runs in seven innings at an average of 10.71 and a strike rate of 100. Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
