(Credit X)
West Indies cricket icon Brian Lara anticipates a resurgence from Indian batsman Virat Kohli during the ICC T20 World Cup 2024 held in the USA and West Indies.
Kohli, who managed only 5 runs in the group stage matches, showed signs of improvement in Barbados. In India’s initial Super 8 match against Afghanistan, despite the team’s victory, questions linger about Kohli’s form.
Virat Kohli’s form in IPL 2024 was exceptional, surpassing expectations as he emerged as the leading run-scorer with over 700 runs for RCB in 15 matches, earning him the Orange Cap for the second time. His standout achievement was maintaining a strike rate of 150, a personal best in the league, while partnering as an opener with captain Faf du Plessis.
Inspired by these performances, Indian captain Rohit Sharma and the team management opted to continue using him as an opener in the ICC T20 World Cup. However, Kohli has struggled to replicate his IPL success in the tournament so far. He managed just 1 run against Ireland, departed after a boundary against Pakistan, narrowly avoided a golden duck against the USA, and most recently scored 24 runs at a run-a-ball pace in the latest match.
Despite these subdued innings, former West Indies opener Brian Lara remains optimistic that Kohli has more to offer and believes his best performances are yet to be seen in the ongoing tournament.
During his recent interview with Star Sports, Brian Lara expressed admiration for Virat Kohli despite the latter’s modest score of 24 off 24 balls. Lara highlighted that Kohli’s innings, though brief, allowed him valuable time in the middle, which could prove beneficial moving forward.
Lara emphasized that this opportunity will aid Kohli in regaining his form ahead of the upcoming Super 8 matches against Bangladesh and Australia. The cricketing legend also predicted that India is edging closer to claiming the ICC T20 World Cup 2024 title and suggested that Kohli will only improve after his recent innings.
According to Lara, it’s only a matter of time before Kohli unleashes a significant performance, believing that once he hits his stride, Kohli will be unstoppable on the field.
“24 of 24, you can say that’s not great but the most important thing is that he spent some time out there. India has got one step closer to winning this trophy. I believe that Virat Kohli is just gonna go from strength to strength as he comes down to the Caribbean.”
“He’s going to Antigua next, you’re gonna see him go out there and plow and plow, he’s gonna get runs. When he gets into full swing, it’s a different story. We just have to be very patient with him, we’re gonna see a lot of him there’s still a lot of games left in this World Cup.”- Brian Lara told Star Sports.
