"Cometh the hour, cometh the man" - Wasim Jaffer hails Virat Kohli for stepping up in the final after India's T20 World Cup win
Former India opener Wasim Jaffer has heaped praise on star batter Virat Kohli for once again stepping up his game on the big stage in the T20 World Cup final against South Africa. Kohli scored 76 off 59 balls and won the Player of the Match award as the Men in Blue won by seven runs.
After scoring just 75 runs in seven innings prior to the final, Jaffer explained how Kohli's knock against the Proteas enabled India to hold one end up.
Speaking in a video on his YouTube channel, here's what Wasim Jaffer had to say about Virat Kohli's innings:
"Virat Kohli hadn't scored many runs in the tournament, but he chose the right moment to come good. Cometh the hour, cometh the man as we say, his knock of 76 made a lot of difference and kept one end intact."
Jaffer also praised Axar Patel for his vital cameo of 47(31).
"The most important part I thought was played by Axar Patel. The cameo that he played ensured that the run rate from India never dropped below eight runs per over. He took the attack to the South African bowlers and didn't let them settle, forming a crucial partnership with Kohli," he said.
Shivam Dube also scored a crucial 27 off 16 balls and his knock injected some much-needed momentum to India's innings at the backend. Jaffer lauded the Indian captain and team management for sticking with Dube despite a lot of outside pressure to replace him.
Wasim Jaffer on Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma's T20I retirements
Wasim Jaffer believes that Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma have made the right call to retire after after winning the T20 World Cup. The former Indian opener opined that the duo couldn't have chosen a better way to call it quits from the shortest format.
Jaffer said in the same video:
"Two giants of the game (Rohit and Kohli) have retired from T20Is and this will certainly form a big gap. However, they rightly chose to go out on a high after winning the trophy and we should bow down to the true greats of the game. We will continue to see them in IPL, ODIs and Tests."
Speaking to the host broadcaster after receiving the Player of the Match award in the final, Kohli had shed light on how it was time for the next generation to step in and take India forward in T20s.