I Feel Virat Kohli Can Reach There - Saba Karim Says Indian Captain Can Score 14000 T20 Runs Like Chris Gayle

Former wicketkeeper Saba Karim opines that India and Royal Challengers Bangalore captain Virat Kohli is completely capable of reaching the milestone of 14000 T20 runs, which has recently been breached by Chris Gayle.

In the third T20I of the ongoing series against Australia, the left-handed West Indian became the first batsman to cross the 14000 run mark in T20 cricket. Gayle, who was out-of-form before the match, reached this figure during his Man of the Match knock of 67 runs off 38 balls, helping his side take an unassailable 3-0 series lead with two matches to go.

He is well ahead of the second-placed, Kieron Pollard, who has amassed 10836 runs in the shorter format so far. Next on the list are Shoaib Malik and David Warner; Virat Kohli follows them with 9922 runs in 310 matches at an average of 41.86

It will be a very difficult challenge for Virat Kohli: Saba Karim

Saba Karim, who has also previously held the position of a selector, backs Virat Kohli to reach the 14000 T20 runs milestone. However, he also points out that for doing the same, the Indian captain would need to play a lot more T20 matches.

Gayle only plays T20 cricket for West Indies – he hasn’t featured in an ODI for 2 years – and plies his trade around the world in franchise leagues. Virat Kohli, on the other hand, is an all-format India player and is sometimes rested from the international bi-lateral T20 series. Hence, it would be difficult for him to reach the number of matches the Jamaican has played.

“I feel Virat Kohli can reach there but for that, he will have to play a lot of T20 matches, he will have to regain the form he had one or one-and-a-half years back,” Karim he told India News.

“The biggest specialty of Chris Gayle is that he does not have to put in too much effort to post a big score. Virat Kohli has to take singles and doubles apart from the boundaries to score his runs. I feel it will take time but it will be a very difficult challenge for Virat Kohli,” he added.

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