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Former Australian spinner Brad Hogg considers India as favourites for the upcoming T20 World Cup 2022. While Hogg praised Yuzvendra Chahal, Hardik Pandya, he talked about Virat Kohli’s slump in form as well.
Hogg feels that Kohli has mindset issues and to prolong his career he will have to have pick formats that he best suited in. The Chinaman bowler said, "Kohli has mindset issue but he’ll bounce back. He needs to think and then pick & choose the format which is best suited for him."
After the leggie’s four-wicket haul at Lord’s, Hogg believes that Chahal's bowling was becoming predictable a couple of years back. He credited Chahal for finding out methods to recalibrate his skill-sets.
Chahal, who will turn 32 next week, was dropped during last year's T20 World Cup in the UAE and since then has played 20 white ball games across two formats and has taken 26 wickets. His recent form and IPL success has proved why he is one the key players for team India ahead of the T20 World Cup. In the 2nd ODI of the ongoing series, Chahal became the first Indian to take 4 wickets in an ODI game at Lord's.
"(Having seen) his growth over the last year or two, he is going to have a better series (the T20 World Cup) in Australia," Hogg told reporters here on the sidelines of a 'Western Australia' tourism event.
But the left-arm wrist-spinner is actually impressed how Chahal has "adapted his game in the past couple of years."
"He had a period where he got found out but he has found a method to rebuild himself and get back into the contest," Chahal said.
Hogg, who has himself been a part of World Cup winning Australian ODI team, believes that Chahal can make a difference in the middle overs in the upcoming T20 World Cup.
"Chahal is up there. I think leg-spin in T20 cricket is probably the most effective option, especially in those middle overs. And the thing I like about Chahal is that he is up there with the best," he opined.
Apart from Chahal there is another player who is in the limelight. Suryakumar Yadav is another cruicial player in the build up to World Cup. The Mumbai Indians’ batsman had a good IPL despite Mumbai's poor show in the IPL 2022. He continued that run in the international games he played for Team India. Suryakumar Yadav has taken the cricket world by storm with his 55-ball-117 against England in the third T20I of the series in a losing cause and Hogg finds him to be the most dangerous batter with an unorthodox range of strokes.
"Suryakumar is going to be batting in the top-order. He is probably the most damaging batsman. He is a tough batsman to bowl to because he scores in different areas.
"If he and (Rishabh) Pant are out in the middle, both are different players, but they are unorthodox, so it is very hard to set them up with a good game-plan," he added.
Meanwhile, Hogg termed South Africa’s decision to pull out of the ODIs in Australia, which were to be held next year, due to their cramped schedule and launch of their domestic T20 league as disappointing.
"We have seen the problems with South Africa. They (South Africa) have pulled out of the tour to Australia (ODIs) for their T20 competition and for me that is disappointing. At the end of the day, we need to keep the great international game going," he signed off.
