Virat Kohli recently retired from T20I cricket after winning the T20 World Cup 2024. He scored a match-winning 76 in the final and was also named the Man of the Match in his final T20I game for India.
The team management is now keen on finding an able replacement for Kohli at number three. Rishabh Pant was promoted to batting at number three and might be used at that number for some time now. The race to replace Virat Kohli is also on with several contenders fighting for that spot.
Having recently retired from T20I cricket, he is on a break from the game and will join the Indian squad for the ODI series against Sri Lanka starting next month. He will now play only ODI and Test cricket from here on and has unfinished business left in both formats.
Meanwhile, Shubhankar Mishra in his latest YouTube podcast show hosted Bollywood actors Riteish Deshmukh and Saqib Saleem. On that show, Saqib recalled playing against Virat Kohli in a U-16 game.
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Watch- Saqib Saleem Talk About Virat Kohli
Virat Kohli And I Played Cricket Together As Kids In Delhi (U19 days) : Saqib Saleem. He was Something Else. #SaqibSaleem #ViratKohli pic.twitter.com/WXPHUfnAPr
— Shubhankar Mishra (@shubhankrmishra) July 26, 2024
“Bhai jab main U-19 khela tha from Kashmir, he was playing from Delhi. So we played a game against each other and when I saw him bat, I realized that he would play for India one day. I don’t know about senior cricket, but in junior cricket in the U-16 and U-19 categories, the first time I saw Virat bat was in a club-level tournament. A 15-year-old Virat Kohli back then hit all the bowlers around the park and he was not hitting small sixes he was hitting them big, almost out of the school. So at that point, I realized that he is a different type of talent” Saqib recalled.
Virat Kohli is still in the very prime of his career and also his fitness. He has influenced a lot of Indian and even overseas players to follow a proper fitness regime. Virat and Rohit both wanted to rest for the ODI series against Sri Lanka. However, both have agreed to play on Gautam Gambhir’s request. Kohli even said that he is ready to put behind his past with Gambhir for the sake of the team.
Gambhir while addressing the press conference in Mumbai before leaving for Sri Lanka said that his relationship with Virat Kohli is not for the TRPS and that it is very good and between two mature individuals.
“What kind of a relationship with Virat Kohli is not for TRP? At the moment, we are representing India, we are representing 140 crore Indians. We have an excellent relationship with him off the field. But, it’s not for the public. It’s not important how many chats I’ve had with him during or after the game. He is a thorough professional, a world-class athlete, and hopefully, he will continue that way” Gambhir said in the presser.
Bringing the best out of Kohli and Rohit is something that Gambhir as head coach of India will have to channelise. He has a few very major tournaments lined up and both the senior players will be a key part of those events.
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