The BCCI had issued an ultimatum to all players contracted with the board to participate in domestic tournaments in India when they are not associated with the Indian team or on international duty. However, recent claims have been made to keep Virat Kohli out of such responsibilities.
After defeats in Rajkot and Indore, India lost the ODI series to New Zealand by a margin of 2–1. However, Indian legend Virat Kohli did not disappoint his fans as he gave a strong performance in the country.
Batsman Virat Kohli has retired from the remaining two formats of international cricket and continues to play only in the longer formats of limited overs cricket. Kohli is a true legend of this format in terms of most runs and most centuries.
Mohammad Kaif’s funny comment on Virat Kohli, “He comes, scores runs and then goes back to London.”
Former RCB player Mohammad Kaif has praised the Indian star after his brilliant performance in the series against New Zealand. They have ignored the results and focused on the greatness and heroics of the great batsman.
He told that Kohli, who no longer lives in India, returns to India, scores a lot of runs and goes back to London. He admitted that it is not easy to remain so consistent despite so little playing time; However, this is what makes Kohli different from his counterparts.
“Virat has become a player who is rarely seen now. But he comes, scores and then goes back to London. That’s how it has become. He comes, scores and goes. It is not easy to score so many runs consistently when you are not playing regularly.”
“But it’s his passion, his fitness, his pride in playing for the country, his knowledge of the game and his own preparation. He has proved it,” he said on his YouTube channel.
Kaif demanded special status for Virat Kohli from BCCI, saying, “There is no need for him to play at the domestic level now.”
Kaif, who has been in awe of Kohli’s way of batting since retiring from Tests and focusing solely on the 50-over format, claimed that the great batsman should be freed from any compulsion of playing domestic cricket. Earlier, BCCI had given such special status to Jasprit Bumrah.
Virat Kohli scored 240 runs in these three matches against New Zealand with an average of 80 and a strike rate of around 115. In the last 19 matches for India, Kohli has scored 0, 0, 74*, 135, 102, 65*, 93, 23 and 124 runs.
He said, “Now there is no need for him to play at the domestic level. Anyone can do match practice, but the passion he has is not found in any market. Where will you get that from? Even in the last game, he was the hope. Virat will single-handedly defeat even the 10 players in front of him.”
Mohammad Kaif suggests India is winning because of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli
Mohammad Kaif has also expressed the importance of Rohit Sharma in the Indian team along with Virat Kohli. He has said that he is in the team for the 2027 World Cup and should never be questioned.
He pointed out that in the last 10 ODIs, every time India managed to win the match, it was either Virat Kohli or Rohit Sharma who was awarded the Man of the Match award.
Kaif said, “Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, in the last 10 ODIs, whenever India has won, one of these two has been the man of the match. So you will not be able to move forward without them, if that was the plan. How will you do? Whenever the team is winning, they are there.”
Kaif also feels that removing Rohit Sharma from the captaincy was a hasty step and instead the decision should have been left to him. This would have been worthy of respect for a courageous captain like Sharma.
He said, “Removing Rohit, who was such a great captain, was also a wrong move. It would have been wiser to have allowed him to remain the captain and asked him if he was getting tired. He should have been allowed to take the decision.”
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