Sunil Gavaskar is of the opinion that Virat Kohli's current form in T20 cricket merits a continuation in Team India's T20I team, especially if he is able to carry his form from the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 season to the 2024 season as well.
In an exclusive interview with Sports Tak, Gavaskar said that he can stake a claim for a place in next year's T20 World Cup squad as well if his form remains the same.
"The T20 World Cup will be held next year (in 2024) and the IPL will happen before that. And Virat has performed brilliantly in this IPL. If he scores runs like this in the next IPL as well, then I think he should be selected in Team India. Also, if India plays a T20 series against any other team in the next couple of months, then considering his current form, he should be in the team.
Adding to this, Gavaskar reminded fans that he has two centuries in T20 cricket in recent memory, "It is difficult to score 40-50 runs in T20s, but Virat has scored two centuries, which is commendable. If I was a selector, I would definitely keep him in the T20 series to be held in June-July."
Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rinku Singh and Ravi Bishnoi can get Team India debuts: Sunil Gavaskar
The former India skipper also feels that two uncapped stars Yashasvi Jaiswal and Rinku Singh can also make their much-awaited India debuts after the magical seasons that they have had. However, a surprise name that Gavaskar mentioned was Ravi Bishnoi.
"Yashasvi Jaiswal and Rinku Singh have performed well this IPL. These batters make their Team India debuts. At the same time, you can also bring in Ravi Bishnoi. In T20 cricket, a spinner keeps getting hit. But Ravi Bishnoi prepares for the next ball. Apart from this, we can also keep Akash Madhwal of Mumbai Indians in the team. Madhwal will get better with time and I think these 4-5 names can go ahead and serve the Indian team a lot in the future.
IPL 2023 Qualifier 2: MI vs GT Prediction
The next match is the IPL 2023 Qualifier 2 between the Mumbai Indians (MI) and the Gujarat Titans (GT). Sunil Gavaskar said that Gujarat will benefit from playing on their home ground.
"I will give 51 percent to GT and 49 to MI. I do not think that Hardik Pandya going at number 3 is out of the box. He has batted at this position before as well. He did not bat in the last 2-3 matches. He was saving himself. Vijay Shankar came at number 3 against RCB. He had to do the same against CSK."
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