New Delhi: Former Indian cricketer and batting coach Sanjay Bangar made a vociferous pitch for Virat Kohli to play next yearâs T20 World Cup in the West Indies and US from June 4 to 30.
âHundred per cent he should be there in the T20 team. What he did in the previous T20 World Cup and in those close matches, I donât see the reason why he canât be seen playing T20 cricket and next yearâs T20 World Cup,â Bangar told a YouTube channel âCricket Basuâ. âYou know that in big situations where emotions run high, one small mistake could cost you dear. You need big players who have gone through those situations. At that point, it doesnât really matter what your strike-rate is, or what you have done in the IPL, in big games you require big match players. He (Kohli) showed such spirit in the India-Pakistan game,â Bangar said.
Former Railways captain and all-rounder Bangar also made it clear that batting at the highest level isnât about scoring fours and sixes only. It is also about scoring ones and twos that gives Kohli an edge over generations of cricketers. âEveryone has a style of scoring and it doesnât mean that only big hitters can win a game. If that would have been the case, the West Indies team would have won all the T20 World Cups. Virat Kohli is such a batsman who can score a hundred without hitting a six. And he has done that. Against Gujarat Titans, he didnât score a single six and yet scored a century. All his shots were grounded and that speaks volumes about Virat Kohli,â he explained. Bangar then went on to say that Virat is a legend of the game and people relate to him in a particular way because of his stature. âVirat has taken inspiration from a generation of cricketers like Kapil Dev, Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag. He is a pioneer. He has redefined fitness standards and aggression on the field. Being in Australia and beating them in their backyard was quite an achievement for the team under Virat Kohli. His style of captaincy of fighting for every inch and coupled with his batting prowess made him a very special cricketer. "Everything clicked. Our bowling also clicked during that phase. The bulk of runs were scored by Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara. That time the Indian team did special things under Viratâs captaincy,â Bangar said while referring to the golden period of Indian cricket in Test matches, wherein the team was ranked number-one in ICC ratings.âIANS
