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Former Australia captain Aaron Finch slammed Virat Kohli’s critics for questioning his suitability in the upcoming T20I World Cup 2024. The former Royal Challengers Bengaluru skipper played a brilliant knock of 77 runs of 49 deliveries to guide the side to their maiden IPL 2024 win against Punjab Kings. After the match, the star batter took a sly dig at his critics questioning his place in the forthcoming T20I World Cup. Kohli said, “I know my name is being used just to promote events, but I guess I have still got it.”
Kohli’s statement drew attention from fans and pundits from across the globe, and one of them is former Australia cricketer Aaron Finch. He appeared on ESPN’s Around the Wicket show, where he lashed out at the Indian cricketer’s critics and said that even talking about whether Kohli is fit for India’s T20I WC 2024 squad is ludicrous.
Biggest load of rubbish I’ve never heard in of my life: Aaron Finch
The 37-year-old said, “I can’t understand why every time there’s an ICC event coming up in any format, people always talk about Virat Kohli. Is he under pressure for his spot? That is the biggest load of rubbish I’ve never heard in of my life.”
Finch added, “He is the greatest player that I’ve ever seen in white ball cricket. And doesn’t matter that he strikes at 140 and there’s guys who strike at 160. If I’m picking a team, you’re picking a guy who, you know, day in, day out and like Ferg said, in big games, gets the job done. So just ludicrous that we keep having this conversation.”
Former Australian cricketer Callum Ferguson, who was also present on the show, agreed with Finch and said that Kohli is India’s most important player because of his ability. He said, “You’ve only got to look at the way he’s managed big games, in big tournaments in the last two or three years to almost suggest he’s one of their most important players."
"So, he’s in that side for mine. Lock him away. And going on about the way he’s come back into it over the last couple of games, Darren Lehman used to always say best when fresh, particularly towards the back end of your career. No doubt that’s worked for Virat this time round, and hopefully he can use it as a launching pad going into the World Cup,” he continue.