Aaron Finch reacted strongly after Virat Kohli expressed his feelings on his chances of playing the T20 World Cup starting June 7. Kohli played a match-winning knock of 77 off 49 balls to help Royal Challengers Bangalore defeat Punjab Kings for their maiden victory. of IPL 2024. And at the presentation ceremony, Kohli, while slyly attacking those who question his place in the Indian World Cup squad, retaliated saying “I know my name is only used to promote events, but I guess I still have it”.
Kohli‘s response was a response to his former Indian coach Ravi Shastriwho wasn’t too keen on having Kohli in India T20 World Cup team. When England was great Kevin Pietersen Seeming excited about the idea of having Kohli in the US and West Indies to help the game grow, KP’s commentary partner Shastri countered the idea. The former India all-rounder insisted that the game would continue to grow regardless of Kohli’s participation and recalled how a young Indian team won the first-ever T20 World Cup in South Africa in 2007.” What I’m trying to say is no. “You want youth. You want flamboyance. You want that dynamism,” he said.
Regarding Kohli’s place in the T20 World Cup in India, Bullfinch, the former Australian captain finds it “ridiculous” that such a discussion is taking place in the first place. Hailing Kohli as the “greatest white-ball striker” he has seen, Finch believes the mere fact that Kohli’s place is being questioned in a World Cup squad illustrates the term short-sightedness.
“I don’t understand why every time an ICC event takes place, regardless of the format, people always talk about Virat Kohli. Is he under pressure for his place? This is the biggest pile of bullshit that I’ve ever heard in my life. He’s the greatest player I’ve ever seen in white-ball cricket. It doesn’t matter if he bats at 140 and there are guys who bat at 160. If “I pick a team, I’ll pick a guy. I know who, day in and day out, in big games, gets the job done. It’s just ridiculous that we keep having this conversation,” he said in the show “Around the Wicket”.
Virat Kohli’s T20 World Cup conundrum
The suspense over Kohli’s participation in the T20 World Cup intensified when The Telegraph first reported that the BCCI and chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar could leave Kohli out of the showpiece event, while selecting young people. Even when BCCI secretary Jay Shah had confirmed Rohit Sharma as captain, there was no mention of Kohli, who has played only two T20Is for India since November 2022, scoring 29 and 0.
Kohli had a fabulous IPL last year, scoring 639 runs – his second best season – at an average of 53.25, including two centuries and six fifties. He has already started this tournament with a clean knock that can put any T20I batter to shame. India’s T20 World Cup squad expected to be announced by mid-May; hence, with a good chunk of matches remaining, Kohli can turn up the pressure. Only time will tell if Kohli is in the BCCI pipeline for the World Cup, but Virat surely cannot be ignored if he is capable of setting the IPL on fire once again.