Virat Kohli begins the hunt to regain his lost touch after a long break in the Asia Cup in Dubai on Sunday. The occasion will also be significant as it will be his 100th T20I, that too against Pakistan. Former captain and BCCI president Sourav Ganguly is also hoping things will fall into place soon for Kohli. “Virat is a very big player and has been there for a long time. I know he has his own formula to score runs. It’s not possible that players of his stature will have such a long lean patch... I know he will definitely score runs.
“He needs to score runs not only for India but for himself as well. Hopefully, it will be a good season for him,” Sourav said during an event organised by Senco Gold and Diamonds at a city hotel on Friday. Kohli has gone without an international hundred across formats for nearly three years now but feels that there isn’t much scope for course correction. With no set patterns for dismissal, Kohli thinks it’s “actually an easier thing to process” since he knows he is “batting well”. Sourav agrees with Kohli.
“We all are confident that he’ll come back. If he was not a great player, he would not have scored so many runs and for so long. I’m sure like all of us are waiting for him to get that hundred, he’s doing it as well. But the chances of getting a hundred in a T20 is lesser because of the time,” he remarked.
Rohit Sharma’s team has adopted an ultra-aggressive approach in the first six overs and that has fetched success. Sourav is keeping his fingers crossed.
“They have played T20 cricket with a lot of freedom and expressed themselves. I was reading the other day Rohit said that after the last World Cup... ‘we have changed the way we want to play T20 cricket’. So that’s the way it is. We will find out and see from Sunday,” he said.
The BCCI president didn’t wish to make any prediction about Sunday’s much-hyped India-Pakistan clash. “For those who play regularly against Australia, South Africa and other teams, India-Pakistan is just another game. For me, it was just another game where I had to perform. I never played thinking it was Pakistan.
“Maybe during a World Cup semi-final or a qualifer match, that sort of emotions were there... Yes, when you play in an important stage of a tournament, there’s an added pressure,” Sourav said.
India and Pakistan will meet thrice in the Asia Cup if both make the final. “I’ve been following these matches closely from 1992. In these 30 years, we have lost only once in the World Cup (in the T20 World Cup in October last year). It’s not magic that you will always win. You lose once or twice, it’s not a big deal. These matches are different and the World Cup will also be different. Both are good sides, whoever plays well on the day will win,” Sourav said. He doesn’t think the absence of Shaheen Shah Afridi will make a huge difference.
“I don’t think one player makes a difference in any team. We also don’t have Jasprit Bumrah. There are no favourites in T20s as you have so less time to recover.” Sourav didn’t wish to speculate on any single player who could be the X-factor in these big matches.
“We have many players who can be the X-factor... Rohit, Virat, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, Suryakumar Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Hardik Pandya... X-factor will always be there. “Pakistan also have the likes of Babar Azam, (Mohammad) Rizwan and many young fast bowlers. Both teams have the X-factor.
“No one’s a favourite. Did anyone think of Gujarat (Titans) winning the IPL? It’s a different format altogether.” Sourav described Hardik Pandya’s presence as a “huge addition” to the side. “He’s a huge addition to the side, plus his bowling is there this time. Last year he was not fit to bowl, now he’s gone back to bowling.”