Aakash Chopra

Former India captain Virat Kohli is set to make a comeback after a long break in the upcoming Asia Cup in the UAE. The 33-year-old was rested for the white-ball series in West Indies, as well as the ongoing ODI series against Zimbabwe as he hasn’t been in the greatest of form over the last couple of years.

Amid uncertainty about his future in the team, former India batter Aakash Chopra feels that while Kohli is an incredible batter, he needs to score runs, especially with the T20 World Cup hosted in Australia later this year.

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"As far as his (Virat Kohli) place in the Indian team in concerned, that question does not arise as of now. But there is no hiding from the fact that he needs to score runs. He has not played that much international cricket since the T20 World Cup last year. He has played just four T20Is since then," Chopra said during Star Sports show 'Game Plan'.


Chopra further talked about how the Asia Cup could be a make-or-break tournament for the Delhi-born player. "He is a phenomenal player, perhaps one of the best the world has ever seen, but there comes a point where runs, contributions, and role play come into the picture. If you're batting at no. 3 for India, it doesn't matter who it is, you have to score runs. If you're talking about team philosophy, with that perspective and keeping the upcoming T20 World Cup in mind, this Asia Cup after a long break will be crucial for Virat Kohli," he added.


This will be the 15th edition of the tournament and will take place in UAE. Six teams are divided into two groups with India, Pakistan and a qualifying team in Group A and Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Afghanistan forming Group B. India kicks off their 2022 Asia Cup campaign against Pakistan on 28 August at the Dubai International Stadium.


India’s squad for Asia Cup: 

Rohit Sharma (Captain), KL Rahul (vice-captain), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Dinesh Karthik (wicket-keeper), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, R. Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ravi Bishnoi, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh, Avesh Khan


Three players Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel and Deepak Chahar have been named as standbys.