“Hundred percent, he should be there” - Sanjay Bangar wants Virat Kohli in India’s T20 World Cup 2024 squad
Former Indian batting coach Sanjay Bangar wants senior batter Virat Kohli to be part of the T20 World Cup 2024, which will be played in the West Indies and the US from June 4 to 30. According to Bangar, India will need an experienced hand like Kohli in big games.
Kohli was part of the Men in Blue outfit that reached the semi-final of the 2022 T20 World Cup in Australia. In fact, he finished as the tournament’s leading run-getter, with 296 runs in six matches at an average of 98.67 and a strike rate of 136.41.
The 34-year-old played an incredible knock in the high-profile clash against Pakistan, hammering an unbeaten 82* off 53 balls as India clinched a last-ball thriller at the MCG. Both Kohli and Rohit Sharma, however, haven’t played a T20I for India since the World Cup.
Backing Kohli to feature in next year’s T20 World Cup, Bangar said on the YouTube channel ‘Cricket Basu’:
“Hundred percent, he should be there in the T20 team. What he did in the previous T20 World Cup and in those close matches, I don’t see the reason why he can’t be seen playing T20 cricket and next year’s T20 World Cup.”
Elaborating on his reasons behind the same, Bangar added that experience in crunch situations will matter a lot in the mega event. The 50-year-old commented:
“You know that in big situations where emotions run high, one small mistake could cost you dear. You need big players who have gone through those situations. At that point, it doesn’t really matter what your strike-rate is, or what you have done in the IPL, in big games you require big match players. He (Kohli) showed such spirit in the India-Pakistan game.”
Kohli is the leading run-getter in T20Is, having smashed 4008 runs in 115 games at an average of 52.73 and a strike rate of 137.96.
“Kohli is such a batsman who can score a hundred without hitting a six” - Bangar
While some critics have pointed out to strike rate being one of the factors behind Kohli being kept out of the T20I side, Bangar disagreed with the analysis.
According to him, the former India captain has the ability to score a hundred without hitting a six.
“Everyone has a style of scoring and it doesn’t mean that only big hitters can win a game. If that would have been the case, the West Indies team would have won all the T20 World Cups. Virat Kohli is such a batsman who can score a hundred without hitting a six. And he has done that. Against Gujarat Titans, he didn’t score a single six and yet scored a century. All his shots were grounded and that speaks volumes about Virat Kohli,” Bangar elaborated.
Kohli had a brilliant IPL 2023 campaign for the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) earlier this year, scoring 639 runs in 14 games at a strike rate of 139.82, with two hundreds and six fifties.