Virat Kohli Won't Be Certainty For India In T20 World Cup 2022 - Wasim Jaffer
Published - 07 Jul 2022, 06:42 PM | Updated - 23 Aug 2024, 12:10 AM
Former Indian batter Wasim Jaffer said that senior Indian batter Virat Kohli won’t be a certainty for India in the T20 World Cup 2022 in Australia later this year.
Kohli is the third-highest run-getter in T20 Internationals with 3296 runs in 97 matches at an average of 51.50 and a strike rate of 137.67. He is only behind New Zealand’s Martin Guptill (3299) and Indian skipper Rohit Sharma (3313).
Virat Kohli’s T20I numbers since 2021
Kohli has been under fire with the bat and also in the eyes of his critics at the same time over the last two years. However, Kohli has performed well in T20 Internationals if one looks at his numbers. Since the start of 2021, Kohli scored 368 runs in 11 innings at an average of 61.33 including five fifties.
The former Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) captain finished IPL 2022 with 341 runs in 16 innings at an average of 22.73 and a strike rate of 115.98 with two half-centuries against Gujarat Titans.
Virat Kohli will get opportunities to play but won’t get selected in the T20 World Cup squad: Wasim Jaffer
With the likes of Deepak Hooda and Suryakumar Yadav looking in great touch with their respective forms, Jaffer is of the opinion that Kohli won’t be selected for the T20 World in Australia.
“Kohli plays, there’s no doubt about it but his form will be taken into consideration. His IPL strike rate hasn’t been great. He’s not been in the best of forms. Deepak Hooda can give you an option with bowling so that will be taken into consideration but not straightaway,” Jaffer told ESPNcricinfo.
“I’d say Kohli will get an opportunity to play a few matches and then probably selectors will take a call but I don’t think he’ll be a certainty because so many young players have done so well. In the last T20 World Cup, the strike rate, that approach, was questioned and I think we need to keep looking at the future,” he added.
Kohli is rested for the first T20I match against England in Southampton but will join the squad in the second game in Birmingham with other white-ball regulars, who featured in the fifth Test.
