"I see Virat Kohli's form and.."- New Zealand's opener's no-nonsense verdict on India's T20 World Cup Squad

New Zealand's left-hand top-order batsman Henry Nicholls feels that batting stalwart Virat Kohli will be an imperative part of the Indian national team heading into the ICC T20 World Cup 2024.

Nicholls made these comments in an exclusive chat with Times of India as he gears up to feature in a 5-match T20I series in Pakistan, which is going to start from tomorrow onwards at the Rawalpindi Cricket stadium.

It will be an important series for both teams as it serves as a great breeding ground for preparation for the T20 WC.

Henry Nicholls was asked to speak on a variety of topics from the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup to the 2021 World Test Championship finale win against India and how safe is it for foreign teams who come to play in Pakistan.

In one of the segments, Nicholls was asked about the importance of Virat Kohli in the Indian team and how important is he for India in the upcoming 20-team ICC event. The Kiwi's response was very positive as he said that he would be very important, given the form he is in.

Virat Kohli is currently the leader of the Orange Cap race as he leads the run-scoring chart with 361 runs from 7 matches for the Royal Challengers Bengaluru at an average of 72.20.

Even though the RCB is at the bottom spot of the points table, Kohli is making sure to stretch his arms in every match possible and gain some valuable form before he flies over to the USA and West Indies for the WC.

IPL 2024 is also his comeback tournament after missing 3 months of action (from Jan to Mar) in the India Vs England 5-match Test series. 

Henry Nicholls says Virat Kohli's inclusion  makes Team India much more lethal  

Henry Nicholls started by saying that Virat Kohli has been a true legend of the game for a long time now and that he is very fortunate to have played against him on several occasions. Nicholls then claimed that Kohli is a great competitor and that he is in red-hot form at the moment in the Indian Premier League.

Lastly, the Kiwi batter stated that whenever he plays for India and leads the batting front, team India automatically becomes more dangerous than ever. 

"Virat Kohli, he's been one of the greats of our game for a long time. I consider myself lucky to have played against him and know much of a competitor he is. So I see his form at the moment in the IPL as well, scoring a lot of runs. Anytime he's playing well and you know, leading from the front with the bat, that makes India even more of a dangerous team than they always are." - Nicholls said via TOI. 

RCB is in a must-win situation at the moment 

After losing to Sunrisers Hyderabad in their previous league match, the Royal Challengers find themselves in a must-win situation.

With 7 matches gone, RCB have no choice but to win the remaining 7 matches against Kolkata (21st April), SRH (25th April), GT (28th April & 4th May), Punjab (9th May), Delhi (12th May) and Chennai (18th May).