Former India cricketer Kirti Azad who was part of Kapil Dev-led India's 1983 World Cup squad lavished praise on Virat Kohli and hopes that the former India captain will fire runs with his bat in the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 which is scheduled to start from November 22.
In the exclusive conversation with Sports Tak, Kirti Azad said that you cannot judge a player like Virat Kohli by just one series as the modern-day great failed to perform in his last Test outing which was against New Zealand where the 36-year-old just scored 93 runs in six innings.
"Who did well with the bat against the New Zealanders? Nobody did well. On turning tracks, which backfired on us. So, you can't judge a great player by one series. And without a doubt, he is one of the best India has produced. He has always scored runs in crisis for India and I see a very positive performance from him because Australia has always been a challenging series and he loves taking challenges" Kirti Azad told Sports Tak.
Kohli has played 13 Tests in Australia since 2011, amassing 1,352 runs at an average of 54.08, including six centuries and four fifties, with a top score of 169. The upcoming five-test match series is important for India to seal their spot in the upcoming World Test Championship (WTC) final which will take place in England next year. India needs to register a 4-0 win in the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 to confirm their berth for WTC final.
India squad for Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25
Rohit Sharma (C), Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant (WK), Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel (WK), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar.
Travelling reserves: Mukesh Kumar, Navdeep Saini, Khaleel Ahmed
