Virat Kohli's form coined irrelevant after failure in the Chennai Test vs Bangladesh
Pakistan opener Ahmed Shehzad has a huge prediction for Virat Kohli ahead of the second Test between India and Bangladesh in Kanpur. Shehzad feels that Kohli will score a hundred in the next match and will give a perfect answer to his critics.
Virat Kohli looked out of touch during the first Test match in Chennai where he bagged scores of 6 and 17 across both the innings. In the first innings, he went after a wide delivery from Hasan Mahmud to nick the ball through to the wicketkeeper Litton Das.
In the second innings, he looked in better form and was batting well until he was dismissed. Later on Day 2 of the match, Kohli tried to flick an off-spinning ball from Mehidy Hasan Miraz but missed and was hit on the pad in front of the stumps. Bangladesh appealed successfully as the umpire raised his finger.
Also read: Rishabh Pant goes on record to accepting experiencing jitters ahead of the IND vs BAN Chennai Test
Ahmed Shehzad has a big prediction for Virat Kohli
Despite Kohli's failures in the first Test, Ahmed Shehzad showed confidence in his ability and backed him to get a hundred. Shehzad felt that Kohli's form should not be a big concern and he would come back hard in the next match.
"No doubt, he (Virat Kohli) will come back hard. If you ask me, Virat Kohli will score a century in the next match. Failures in one or two innings is not a big worry for him," Shehzad said in a video uploaded on his YouTube channel.
Instead, the Pakistan batter was worried about KL Rahul's form. Shehzad mentioned that Rahul will play top-quality teams in the upcoming series and his form will be crucial for India ahead of those Tests.
"If there is something to worry for Team India, it is the form of KL Rahul. He will play the next series (against New Zealand) before the big series (against Australia). That will be a different scenario. The teams will have higher rankings and they will test him. While everyone is chipping in, KL Rahul's form is extremely crucial," Shehzad added.
KL Rahul was dismissed for just 16 in the first innings and remained unbeaten on 22 off 19 balls in the second innings. However, he is unlikely to be dropped for the next Test at Kanpur.
Virat Kohli's form crucial for India
Meanwhile, Virat Kohli is not having the best of times in red-ball cricket. He missed India's previous series against England earlier this year due to personal reasons. His form will be crucial for India ahead of the Tests against New Zealand and Australia.
Kohli also did not have a great T20 World Cup 2024 and had a string of low scores until the final where he scored a valuable 76 off 59 balls to take India to a winning first innings score.
After winning the T20 World Cup title, he and Rohit Sharma announced his retirement from T20I cricket.
