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Former India skipper and Board of Control for Cricket in India's (BCCI) president Sourav Ganguly gave a bold statement on Virat Kohli's form and said that the batting juggernaut must score runs not only for India but also 'for himself'.
Kohli last scored his International century almost three years back and ever since he has been riding on a topsy-turvy form with the willow. Kohli will resume his quest for his first international century since 2019, which begins on Saturday in the UAE.
“He needs to score runs not only for India but for himself. Hopefully, it will be a good season for him. We all are confident that he’ll come back,” Ganguly said.
"I am sure like all of us are waiting for him to get that hundred, he’s working for it as well. The chances of getting a hundred in a T20 is less because of the time. But, hopefully, this will be a big season for Kohli.
"He’s a very big player, there for a long time. I know he has his own formula to score runs. It’s not possible that players of his stature can’t have such a long lean patch, I know he will definitely score runs. If he was not a great player, he would not have scored so many runs for so long,” Ganguly further added.
Ganguly also said that India vs Pakistan match is just another match for the Men in Blue and players like Rohit Sharma, Kohli, KL Rahul know how to handle pressure in such situation. The arch-rivals India and Pakistan will face each other in a slugfest on Sunday (August 28). In Dubai, where they last faced off against Pakistan in the T20 World Cup, defending champions India will kick off their campaign in a high-profile matchup.
“India vs Pakistan match is just another match. Those who play regularly or when I used to play, I didn’t take Pakistan as any special match. In knockout matches there is extra pressure. But nothing like that.”
“Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul all are experienced players. They know how to handle the pressure. It’s not a big matter for them,” Ganguly said.
Sourav Ganguly said that the Indian team is going through a great patch and their first game is against Pakistan. He reckoned that picking a favourite in a format as fickle as T20 is tough, however.
“India are a good team. Indian cricket is doing very well in all aspects. India won in Australia, India won in England, India won in West Indies. I am hopeful that in the coming World Cup India will do good too.”
“No one is favourite in T20 cricket. So everyone is good. Those who will play well will win,” he concluded.
India's squad: Rohit Sharma (c), KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Deepak Hooda, Dinesh Karthik, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ravi Bishnoi, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh, Avesh Khan. Standby: Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel, Deepak Chahar.
Schedule for Asia Cup 2022
27 August: Sri Lanka vs Afghanistan (Group B) in Dubai
28 August: India vs Pakistan (Group A) in Dubai
30 August: Bangladesh vs Afghanistan (Group B) in Sharjah
31 August: India vs Hong Kong (Group A) in Dubai
1 September: Sri Lanka vs Bangladesh (Group B) in Dubai
2 September: Pakistan vs Hong Kong (Group A) in Sharjah
3 September: B1 vs B2 (Super 4) in Sharjah
4 September: A1 vs A2 (Super 4) in Dubai
6 September: A1 vs B1 (Super 4) in Dubai
7 September: A2 vs B2 (Super 4) in Dubai
8 September: A1 vs B2 (Super 4) in Dubai
9 September: B1 vs A2 (Super 4) in Dubai
11 September: 1st Super 4 vs 2nd Super 4 (Final) in Dubai
