Batting juggernaut Virat Kohli looks in good touch in the ongoing Asia Cup as he shone with the bat in both the matches played so far. He scored 35 of 34 against Pakistan while against Hong Kong he struck impressive 59 off 44.
Meanwhile, former Pakistan captain Rashid Latif has taken a swipe at Kohli, saying he is not a ‘great’ T20 player, and he can never become Rohit Sharma or Suryakumar Yadav.
"Virat Kohli has never been a great T20 player. We compare him to the likes of Kane Williamson, Joe Root or Steve Smith but none of them have been match-winning players in T20s. These all take the game along, playing an anchor role. Virat Kohli is a great ODI player. He cannot become Rohit Sharma or Suryakumar Yadav," said Latif.
"He plays in the same fashion for Royal Challengers Bangalore as well. MS Dhoni is a different kind of player, if he plays 3-4 dot balls, he can hit 3-4 sixes as well. He can make up for the dot balls. Virat Kohli starts hitting after playing 30-35 balls. Rohit Sharma is the kind of player who utilises the powerplay very well," he further added.
Kohli on Wednesday had become the player with the highest average in the shortest format of the game. He accomplished this feat during his side's Group A tie against Hong Kong in Dubai during the ongoing Asia Cup 2022. Kohli had scored 59* off 44 balls, consisting of one four and three sixes. Now in 101 T20Is, Virat has scored 3,402 runs at an average of 50.77.
He has 31 half-centuries in the format, with his highest score being 94*. He has a strike rate of 137.12.
India's squad: Rohit Sharma (c), KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Deepak Hooda, Dinesh Karthik, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, R Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ravi Bishnoi, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh, Avesh Khan.
Pakistan's squad: Babar Azam (c), Shadab Khan, Asif Ali, Fakhar Zaman, Haider Ali, Haris Rauf, Iftikhar Ahmed, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan, Naseem Shah, Shahnawaz Dahani, Usman Qadir, Mohammed Hasnain, Hasan Ali.
