“If There Was Some Other Out Of Form Player…”: World Cup Winner Says This On Virat Kohli’s Place In The Indian Cricket Team

Virat Kohli’s lean patch is currently one of the most-discussed topics in Indian cricket. The former Indian cricket team has failed to produce big scores in recent times. Some former Indian players have started questioning his place in the Indian cricket team, while others have backed the long rope being given to him. Kohli is not part of the ODI or the T20I squad for the upcoming Tour of West Indies. Many have wondered whether Kohli should be picked for the 2022 T20 World Cup or not, based on current form.

Now, former India wicketkeeper-batter Syed Kirmani has commented on the issue.

“Virat Kohli is a role model. He is such an experienced player that from every aspect he is a role model. He should be part of the T20 Team. He should most certainly be part of the T20 team. One never knows, one fine day he will return to form and be a game-changer. Such experienced players should be part of the team so that the younger players learn from him,” Syed Kirmani, who was part of the 1983 World Cup-winning team, said in an interview to Dainik Jagran.

“The team’s balance should be such that there are both experienced and young players. The ratio should be 50-50 in the T20 World Cup team. 50 per cent seniors and 50 per cent youngsters. The selection  of the team should be done that way.

“There is intense competition among the Indian players. See, if in place of Virat Kohli, there was some other out of form player, he would have been out of the team by now. But according to me, an established player like Virat should be part of the team.”

Kohli could manage scores of only 11 and 20 in the fifth and final Test against Edgbaston and continued his bad performances in T20Is, where he could score only 12 runs in two innings.

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This was followed by 17 and 16 runs in the three-match ODI series against England.

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Also, Kohli had a sub-par IPL 2022, in which he could score only 341 runs in 16 games at an average of 22.73 and a sub-par strike rate of 115.98. He could score only two half-centuries in the tournament.