Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. (Photo Source: BCCI/Twitter)
Former India skipper Sourav Ganguly has emphasises the importance of Virat Kohli and skipper Rohit Sharma ahead of the Asia Cup and the eagerly-anticipated 2023 ODI World Cup. Notably, team India will kickstart their Asia Cup campaign against arch-rivals Pakistan at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium, in Kandy, on September 2.
Ahead of the campaign opener in the continental Cup, Ganguly voiced his stance on the setup and highlighted that Kohli would be team India’s ‘go-to’ player along with skipper Rohit for both the Asia Cup and the marquee ICC event.
“He’s (Virat Kohli) playing very well, there is no question about it. He will be India’s strength, key player, along with Rohit Sharma. Rohit’s form will be equally important. Last World Cup (2019) he got five hundreds, that’s unbelievable performance,” said Ganguly on RevSportz.
“And probably this is his first and last World Cup as captain, he might still do it in the T20 World Cup but for the ODI event, there is still four years and I don’t think he’ll be playing in another few years. Everyone will be important, and I hope they stand up and perform,” he added.
It is worth mentioning that Kohli is heading to the ACC event on the back of some impressive performances against the West Indies in the two Tests, as he compiled scores of 76 and 121 runs in the series. Meanwhile, skipper Rohit too displayed his batting exploits against the Windies, getting 103, 80, and 57 in the two Tests.
For the record, Rohit and Kohli are team India’s leading run-getters among active players in the Asia Cup (ODI format). While Rohit tops the list with 745 runs in 22 outings, Kohli has amassed 613 runs in mere 11 appearances. Kohli is just 102 runs short of breaching the 13,000-run mark in the ODIs and the swashbuckling right-hander will be gunning to attain the milestone in the ACC event.
India will be eager to kickstart their campaign off with a win against their arch-rivals in Kandy. Meanwhile, Pakistan, who will play India on the back of a mammoth 238-run win against Nepal, will look to keep their momentum intact and cruise towards the Super Four stage.