I don’t see the reason why Virat Kohli can’t be playing 2024 T20 World Cup: Sanjay Bangar

Sanjay Bangar and Virat Kohli. (Photo Source: Twitter)

Virat Kohli was India’s standout performer during the 2022 T20 World Cup, where India lost to eventual champions England in the semifinals. The Delhi batter amassed 296 runs in the tournament in six matches at a staggering average of 98.67 and a strike rate of 136.41. He was the highest run-getter in the tournament, and his match-winning knock of 82* in 53 balls against Pakistan will be remembered by cricket fans for a long time.

The former India captain has not played a single T20I since India’s semi-final encounter against England. Sanjay Bangar, who served as India’s batting coach in recent years, was of the opinion that Kohli’s experience in the upcoming T20 World Cup in 2024, which is scheduled to be held in the West Indies and the USA, will be invaluable for the Men in Blue.

“Hundred percent, he should be there in the T20 team. What he did in the previous T20 World Cup and in those close matches, I don’t see the reason why he can’t be seen playing T20 cricket and next year’s T20 World Cup,” Bangar said on the YouTube channel Cricket Basu.

“You 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 doesn’t 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.”

Virat Kohli had an outstanding IPL 2023 campaign

Virat Kohli mesmerised fans with some spectacular knocks during the 2023 edition of the Indian Premier League. He scored 639 runs in 14 matches in the ten-team tournament at an average of 53.25 and a strike rate of 139.82. Kohli also notched up a couple of centuries and six fifties during his stint in the cash-rich league.

To put things in perspective, this was the most amount of runs the right-handed batter scored in a single season of the IPL after his record-setting 973-run campaign in 2016. Kohli won the ODI World Cup in 2011, but the 20-over World Cup has eluded him thus far.