Here’s what Sourav Ganguly thinks of Virat Kohli going into the Asia Cup: ‘He needs to score runs for himself.’
Here’s what Sourav Ganguly thinks of Virat Kohli going into the Asia Cup: ‘He needs to score runs for himself.’: Former India captain Virat Kohli is coming back to the Indian team for the Asia Cup tournament after a break that many veterans and experts thought he needed. Since the IPL 2022, Kohli has been rested from as many as four white-ball matches. He is now ready to return to his dominant best, but BCCI president Sourav Ganguly has one last message for the India batter.
Kolhi’s Hopes
Kohli will try again to break his century drought in international cricket on Sunday when India plays Pakistan in its first Asia Cup game at the Dubai International Stadium. The century drought has lasted for more than a year. Since he last hit a hundred in November 2019 in Kolkata, Kohli has now tried 78 times in all kinds of games and failed to reach the hard-to-reach three-figure mark.
Ganguly’s Thoughts
Ganguly said that Kohli needs to score runs for himself before he rejoins the Indian team for the Asia Cup.
“He needs to score runs not only for India but for himself. Hopefully it will be a good season for him. We all are confident that he’ll come back,” Ganguly said during an interaction on the sidelines of a media event in Kolkata.
“He’s a very big player, there for a long time. I know he has his own formula to score runs. It’s not possible that players of his stature can’t have such a long lean patch, I know he will definitely score runs. If he was not a great player, he would not have scored so many runs for so long,” Ganguly maintained.
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What KL Rahuls thinks
Earlier, India’s vice-captain KL Rahul was also asked the same thing during a press conference before the game. The question was about Kohli’s ongoing struggles and how the team was talking about them.
“He has had a little break and he is working on his game. I was at home watching him on television when I was injured and I didn’t feel like he looked out of form or out of touch. He was batting really well. He has obviously not been able to match up to the standards he himself has set and I am sure he is hungry to come out and win matches for the country. That is something he has always done throughout his career. His mindset has always been to win matches for his country. It was the case when he was captain and it is the same now.””If a player is in that mindset I am sure good things will happen. We all eagerly want Virat to get back to the Virat Kohli form that everybody is talking about (but) we are not worried as the Indian team and I am sure he is not worried. We all want to get some game time. Obviously our main aim is the World Cup. By that time if the batters are in good nick by the World Cup or if the bowlers have played enough matches, they get enough confidence leading up to the tournament. That is our plan and what we will look to do as individuals and as a team,” said Rahul.