Virat Kohli warning issued in Guyana to England bowlers by none other than their own Head Coach Matthew Mott
Updated - 27 Jun 2024, 11:42 AM
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England head coach Matthew Mott has advised his bowling department to not take the out-of-form Virat Kohli for granted in the T20 WC semi-final.
England and India will be playing in a re-match of the 2022 T20 WC semi-final in Adelaide which was won by the Europeans under Jos Buttler's leadership. The replay of that SF will take place later tonight at the Providence Stadium in Guyana where both the teams are currently sweating it out at the nets.
England and India in a high-stakes situation
For England, this semi-final is crucial because they had an underwhelming performance in their previous white-ball trophy defense at the 2023 ODI WC. Jos Buttler and co. had finished 7th in the league stage of the tournament which was hosted by India after 12 long years.
For India, a win in this semi-final is important because they have remained winless in all of the previous SFs since 2016. The 2014 edition was the last time that the Indians had reached the final before losing to eventual champions Sri Lanka. Another crucial reason is that it is head coach Rahul Dravid's final assignment with the Men in Blue.
Therefore, Rohit Sharma and co. will be determined to give Dravid a fitting farewell by qualifying for the final. Last but not least, this is the final chance for India until February 2025 to end their ICC trophy drought.
Last year they had gone close to winning not one but two International events, however, the Australian team had stood in their way, first in the WTC final and then in the CWC final.
Ahead of the 2nd semi-final of the T20 World Cup 2024, England head coach Matthew Mott warned his bowlers to not take Virat Kohli lightly.
Matthew Mott says Virat Kohli has the skill of playing a ruthless knock in knockout games
As we all know, Virat Kohli has experienced a very tough time scoring runs in the 2024 T20 World Cup in West Indies and the USA. Virat has scored just 66 runs from 6 games in this tournament wherein he has also registered two ducks. His highest score came against Bangladesh in the 2nd Super 8 game whereas in the third last 8 match against Australia, Kohli had departed for a 5-ball duck
With Virat Kohli currently out of form, Matthew Mott believes that the former will be keen on staging a comeback in the semi-final. And the victims of his wrath could be the England team.
Virat has proven his class over a very long period of time and he is one of the players we've prepared well for. We know how he can play; we know how destructive he can be and we also know his game smarts. If the game demands an innings of a different nature, he's got that skill." - Mott told press reporters.
"So, he's definitely a key player for them and like we've said throughout this tournament what's happened throughout this tournament means nothing tomorrow when we face off against each other, big players step up in the big moments." - Matthew Mott concluded.
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Matthew Mott England National Cricket Team Mark Wood Virat Kohli ICC T20 World Cup India National Cricket Team India vs England IND vs ENG
