Former England team leader Nasser Hussain believes Virat Kohli can rise to the occasion and contribute significantly for the Indian squad. India is set to compete against South Africa in the championship match of the T20 World Cup 2024 on June 29, which is a Saturday, at the Kensington Oval in Barbados. Both teams have performed exceptionally well throughout the competition and are keen to win the prestigious ICC trophy. India has maintained a perfect record in the tournament, but Kohli has not yet produced a game-changing performance.
Virat Kohli is participating in his sixth T20 World Cup and has been India’s leading run-scorer since 2014. Despite this, the star player has been having a tough time with his performance in the current edition of the prestigious tournament. When playing alongside Rohit Sharma, Kohli has only scored 71 runs in seven matches, averaging 10.71. However, the team still supports him, and Rohit believes that Kohli is saving his best performance for the final stages of the competition.
Can Kohli become the king for India in the finals?
Nasser Hussain remembered Virat Kohli’s amazing batting performance against Pakistan in the T20 World Cup 2022 and noted that he is the player who always performs well in important games.
“If you think back to the match against Pakistan at the MCG, India was struggling. Who was there to save the day? Kohli, hitting the ball really well. That’s the most important game for Indians, especially against Pakistan. So he always shows up in big matches,” Nasser Hussain said to Sky Sports.
The ex-England team leader believed that Kohli should avoid trying to be the attacking player and instead continue with his usual style of playing, gradually building up his performance.
“In my view and that of others, we might not agree because we want to establish a strong start for the whole team. Personally, I believe Virat Kohli should play as he has done in the past ten years. He has an impressive batting strike rate of 138. He can be the key player, the one who stabilizes the team, while others play around him, each coming in to hit their shots. There’s no question about Kohli’s skills as a player. There’s no question about his ability in important games. He struggled on that New York pitch because he had a fantastic performance in the IPL.”
Nasser believed that the challenging pitch in New York prevented Kohli from establishing a strong start for the tournament.
“He performed really well in that situation. He entered the tournament in good form, but the New York pitch has caused him some difficulties. Since then, every video from the Indian team shows them practicing in the nets, with Rahul Dravid trying to help Kohli find his batting rhythm. Kohli is a player who relies on rhythm. He’s different from Hardik Pandya, who is a powerful hitter. Pandya can just go out and hit hard. Virat Kohli needs time to find his rhythm. He needs to bat for 3-4 overs to get into that rhythm. Once he finds his timing, he can perform well under pressure. In a crucial match, who would India want to have at the end? They would definitely want Kohli,” Nasser further explained.
