Picture Credit: Twitter
India batter Virat Kohli has been going through a ‘lean patch’ for a while now and there has been a whole lot of debate about it. Experts have been questioning the batter’s place in the T20I team citing his poor form and below-par strike rate. As the Rohit Sharma-led team is gearing up to defend the title in Asia Cup 2022, cricketer expert cum commentator Harsha Bhogle has shared his views on what lies ahead for the team.
He pointed out that India’s top 6 will be crucial in the game against Pakistan and it will also indicate how the team should fare at the upcoming T20 World Cup. Bhogle also picked the names who easily pick themselves in the India squad and the players who will find it tough to get a go-ahead.
While he picked Rohit Sharma, Hardik Pandya, and Suryakumar Yadav as the three automatic choices, Bhogle asserted that Deepak Hooda, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant, and Dinesh Karthik will fight out for the remaining two spots in the top 6. The 61-year-old then explained how there is a fierce competition between Pant and Karthik for the wicketkeeper’s post.
“Pant's left handedness will work in his favour as will the fact that Pandya could play the DK role. But in recent months, few have finished with the inventiveness and consistency that DK has in a very difficult role. These selections come down to instinct eventually,” tweeted Bhogle.
Pant's left handedness will work in his favour as will the fact that Pandya could play the DK role. But in recent months, few have finished with the inventiveness and consistency that DK has in a very difficult role. These selections come down to instinct eventually
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) August 28, 2022
With the 61-year-old questioning Virat Kohli’s place in the team, the star batter’s fans did not like it and started basing the commentator on his tweet. Almost all of them expressed disbelief at this comment and said that they couldn’t believe that someone could leave out Kohli.
“Can’t believe we are talking about Virat’s place in team @bhogleharsha If he’s playing bad then why his average is still 50 plus and strike rate is 135+ ???? Please don’t be too harsh on Virat .. we should back our players,” tweeted one user.
“‘if kohli is contentions’ is a very poor statement by experts like you.I fail to understand why it’s not the case of “ rohit , rahul,pant,sky ???? Why kohli place in doubt for you and many.he has backing of captain and management, but ppl like you talk carp about this position,” wrote another.
Check out some other reactions as well:
"if Kohli is in contention for oz" , the audacity.....
— Ash (@Ash_ketchum1234) August 28, 2022
No one picks Kohli to bench him 🙂 so he features in that line up every time he is part of the team,
— AK (@rwamit) August 28, 2022
You became a joker with your so called statements. You are questioning Virat place in the team. Wake-up man. I didn’t know how you became a so called commentator/expert. Poor guy! Don’t talk like an agent for Mr Ganguly.
— OP 🇮🇳 (@op_theinvestor) August 28, 2022