Virat Kohli has looked out of his character while opening for India at the T20 World Cup 2024. The star batter vacated his designated third position and has since struggled to cope with the new role. In eight games, he has scored 73 runs and managed just once to bat out of the powerplay. Ahead of the showdown against South Africa, former England spinner, Monty Panesar has asserted that the right-handed batter will score a century in the grand finale at Barbados.
The openers’ slot is not new to the former India captain, as he has flourished batting for Royal Challengers Bengaluru in IPL while opening, and is the highest run-scorer in the league. The slow and sluggish pitches of the Caribbean and USA seem to have demanded better of the white-ball maverick, and the skipper Rohit Sharma has also shown faith in the quality of the cricketer. Not only Kohli, Rohit too underwent a dry phase with the bat early on, but found his mojo as the knockouts beckoned.
“India will win the T20 World Cup final, and Virat Kohli will score 100,” said Panesar as quoted by The Times of India.
Form is never a problem: Rohit Sharma
“He (Kohli) is a quality player. Any player can go through that. We do understand his class, and we do understand his importance in all these big games. Form is never a problem. When you’ve played cricket for 15 years, form is never a problem. He’s looking good, the intent is there, and he’s probably saving for the final. Absolutely (backing Kohli for the final),” Rohit said after the semifinal victory.
India have a bittersweet pill to swallow as the team does not look highly dependent on Kohli as evident in the previous events. Batters like Suryakumar Yadav and Rishabh Pant have stepped up whenever the team lost early wickets. To add, Hardik Pandya and Axar Patel have been doing their bit with both bat and ball as India marched comfortably through the group stages. The form of Ravindra Jadeja and Shivam Dube is also a point of concern as India aim for ICC silverware over a decade-long hiatus.
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