Virat Kohli storm incoming! Sanjay Bangar issues stern warning to teams ahead of T20 World Cup 2024 Super 8s

Former India batsman and batting coach Sanjay Bangar has revealed the real reason why Virat Kohli hasn't been able to score runs in the ICC T20 World Cup 2024. 

Virat Kohli, who was the highest run-scorer in IPL 2024, has been playing in a new position for team India in this T20 World Cup. The Rahul Dravid-led management and skipper Rohit Sharma, after seeing Kohli shine in the Indian Premier League as the Orange cap winner, moved him up to open instead of Yashasvi Jaiswal. 

Thus, Virat Kohli has been opening with Rohit Sharma for the last three games but the former India captain has looked out of touch. In the three Group A matches against Ireland, Pakistan, and the USA, Kohli scored just 5 runs combined. The figure remained the same after India and Canada's match got canceled due to excessive rain. 

If the Indian team are to win the T20 World Cup this month, then Virat Kohli will have to hit his peak form right from the start of Super 8s. With India confirmed to face both Afghanistan and Australia in two of the three matches in the second round of the World Cup, Kohli will be eager to take center stage. 

Sanjay Bangar says Virat Kohli has struggled to adjust

While speaking to Star Sports recently, Sanjay Bangar revealed that Virat Kohli hasn't been able to score runs because he has failed to adjust. In IPL 2024, Kohli batted in flat tracks as an opener but in the USA and West Indies, the surfaces are totally different. 

Virat Kohli has struggled as an opener and the conditions have made things even tougher for them. That top-order batters are often under the scrutiny of getting out because the ball makes movement early on and they don't get another chance after that. 

"He has never opened for India in a T20 World Cup. It's clear that it's a slightly new position and considering the conditions that were there, your first mistake was your last mistake. The batters don't get a second chance here and it has been a challenge for the top-order batters," Bangar told Star Sports. 

Bangar asks people not to worry about Kohli's form 

Sanjay Bangar then concluded by asking people to not worry about Virat Kohli's form. Bangar claimed that it was just a temporary lean patch that he was going through and that it was the calm before the storm.

"When it's a match between two evenly matched teams, the opening batters have struggled a little for sure. I don't think there is any cause for worry. It could be a lull before the storm," Sanjay Bangar concluded.

Just to remind everyone, Virat Kohli is the highest run-scorer in T20 World Cup history since his debut in 2012. He has won the highest-scoring batsman's award twice in his career in 2014 and 2022 when India became runners-up and semi-finalists. Lastly, he is also the only player to win the ICC T20 WC Player of the Tournament twice.