Monday, February 17, 2025
23 C
Brunei Town
More

    Focus on Kohli in Pakistan vs India match in T20 Asia Cup

    AP – The traditional rivalry between subcontinental rivals Pakistan and India today will be spiced up by how well Virat Kohli performs at the T20 Asia Cup in the United Arab Emirates (uae).

    Kohli returns to international cricket after a break of seven weeks during which India has outplayed the West Indies and Zimbabwe in white-ball cricket without its ace batter.

    It’s been over 1,000 days since Kohli last scored a 100 in international cricket and he will be looking to make his 100th T20 international appearance today end the debate on his future in the shorter version of the game.

    “My main aim is to help India win the Asia Cup and the World Cup and I am ready to do anything for the team to make it possible,” Kohli said recently.

    Kohli has played just four of India’s 24 T20s since the last T20 World Cup, also held in the UAE.

    India’s captain Virat Kohli (L) and his Pakistan’s counterpart Babar Azam at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. PHOTO: AFP

    He had a below-par IPL for Royal Challengers Bangalore and has scored just 422 runs in T20s this year with an under-par average of 22.21 and a poor strike rate by his standards of just 118.20.

    Kohli will be the only second player after Ross Taylor of New Zealand to have played in more than 100 games in all three formats of the game.

    But it could be a make or break situation for Kohli as it will be the last major event before India picks its squad for the T20 World Cup in Australia in October.

    The depth in India’s top-order batting in white-ball cricket – especially in T20s – is so great that in order to accommodate Kohli in the Asia Cup, it had to leave out strong batters like Shreyas Iyer.

    Pakistan has to rely on its second-string pace attack after destructive pace bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi was ruled out for at least four to six weeks because of a knee injury he sustained while fielding during a test match in Sri Lanka last month.

    It suffered a second blow in its pace armoury on Friday when young Mohammad Wasim Junior was also ruled out because of side strain.

    spot_img

    Related News

    spot_img