The role of veterans like Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli has come under scrutiny since the 2022 T20 World Cup and the batting duo did not play another match in the shortest format of the game for over an year while Hardik Pandya took over the reins as India captain. However, BCCI secretary Jay Shah has confirmed Rohit Sharma will lead the Indian team in the T20 World Cup 2024 while not confirming Kohli’s prescence in the Indian squad.

Now, according to a recent report by The Telegraph, BCCI selection committee is currently toying with the idea of dropping Virat Kohli from the T20 setup in order to make way for the newer generation. The report notes that only a superlative effort from the batting maestro in IPL could help tilt the scales in his favour.

However, Virat Kohli has found an unexpected ally in this difficult time in the form of former Pakistani pacer Mohammad Irfan who told News 24 that those questioning Virat’s place in the T20 World Cup belong in gully cricket.

Speaking to News 24, Ifran said, “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. 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,”

“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,” the former Pakistani pacer added.

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Published: 13 Mar 2024, 08:00 AM IST