New Delhi, June 19
Ahead of the clash between India and Afghanistan in the Super 8s of the ICC T20 World Cup 2024, former India cricketer Deep Das Gupta backed the Men in Blue cricketer Virat Kohli following his poor run in the ongoing marquee event.
Kohli has not been able to perform in the manner he is known for. In the first three games of the group stage, he managed to score only 1, 4, and 0 runs against Ireland, Pakistan, and the United States respectively.
The commentator asserted that if the batter can't score in two matches, he doesn't become a bad player.
"I seriously believe the form is irrelevant in T20s. If you don't score runs in two matches, you don't become a bad player, you are not out of form, you are out of runs, which Virat Kohli is. Considering Virat's pedigree and all, I am not at all worried," Deep Das Gupta said on Star Sports.
The 47-year-old further stated that he is not at all concerned about the former India skipper's form.
"He got out in the last match off the first ball and before that, watching the four or five balls he played, it didn't seem like he is out of form. It didn't seem like his bat was going in a different line and the ball was somewhere else, and someone like Virat, he will figure it out, there are no two views about that. So I am not at all concerned," the former wicketkeeper-batter added.
The former India skipper needs 104 runs to become the leading run-scorer in T20Is.
Currently, Babar Azam is the highest run scorer in the T20Is with 4145 runs after playing 123 matches and 116 innings at a strike rate of 129.08.
So far the right-hand batter has played 120 matches and 112 innings in which he scored 4042 runs at a strike rate of 137.90. He slammed one century and 37 fifties in the 20-over format.
In the upcoming days, Kohli will get a few more matches to achieve the remarkable landmark as India will play in the Super Eights of the ongoing T20 World Cup 2024.
India will be aiming to do well against Afghanistan (June 20), Bangladesh (June 22) and Australia (24) and register big wins in order to qualify for the semifinals and end India's drought for an ICC trophy since 2013's Champions Trophy and also win their first T20 WC since 2007's inaugural edition in South Africa.
The Men in Blue have displayed a stupendous performance in the group stage of the marquee event and finished at the top of the Group A table with seven points.
Squad: Rohit Sharma (C), Hardik Pandya, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Sanju Samson, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd. Siraj.