Ahead of the match against Hong Kong, former Indian batter Wasim Jaffer had his say on Virat Kohli’s form.
Virat Kohli played his 100th T-20 Internationals, against Pakistan at Dubai International Stadium, this Sunday. After KL Rahul went back to the pavilion with a duck, Kohli came in. It was however a fumble start no doubt. Giving a catch of Naseem Shah’s to Fakhar Zaman at the slip, he luckily git a life after Fakhar mistimed the catch. Nonetheless, Virat Kohli survived another narrow miss from Naseem’s delivery.
But the innings won’t be unworthy to remember for him. The rough patch he was going through the break he took- got some shape in the 35 runs he scored. His innings had his trademark pull shot to the midwicket boundary. Wasim Akram, the legendary Pak seamer even marked it as “arrogant”, while commentating. However, the “life” didn’t last long! He gave his catch of Mohammad Nawaz’s ball to the long off in the 10th over.
Kohli took a break for more than a month. He wasn’t there against West Indies and Zimbabwe. He even hit his last ton in November 2019. But after then, his form is under the lens of criticism.
However, the match against Hong Kong on Wednesday can end the saga. It may provide the best platform for Kohli to hit big.
However, former Indian batter Wasim Jaffer just wants “fluency” to come back in Kohli’s batting. Not only that, Kohli enlisted his name among those who spoke out about their mental struggles.
Wasim Jaffer told the ESPNcricinfo,
“I hope so. We all want a big innings. You can’t expect him to score a century in T20 cricket but we at least hope to see a swashbuckling 60-70-run innings from Virat Kohli, especially with fluency.”
Jaffer further added,
“Personally, I want to see his fluency back. The way he used to play in 2016-17, we haven’t seen that fluency so far. I hope that comes back and if that 60-70-run knock comes, his self-confidence will shoot up.”
I don’t think India will take this game lightly: Wasim Jaffer
After defeating Pakistan by 5 wickets, by five wickets, in the opening game, they will be facing Hong Kong. If India secures this, Rohit Sharma and co. will directly qualify to the Super Four phase.
Moreover, Jaffer predicted that India may not take Hong Kong lightly. The last they face each other was in the 2018 Asia Cup. It was a tight match indeed as India won by a margin of 26 runs. However, it was 285 runs Hong Kong had to chase!
Jaffer said,
“Compared to Pakistan, it is easy but I don’t think the Indian team shouldn’t be even slightly complacent because the tables don’t take too long to turn in T20 cricket. It’s a small format and games change within overs.”
He also said,
“I don’t think India will take this game lightly and they shouldn’t either. They are coming from a win so will want to continue that. I feel the Indian team will keep its guard strong.”
Jafer added,
“Hong Kong is a bit of an unknown quantity, we don’t play them often. The last time India played them was in the Asia Cup, they faced a lot of difficulties. They had a 174-175 run opening partnership and it was a very close match. That was the 50-over format and this is T20 so I feel India won’t be complacent at all.”
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