Virat Kohli needs to score runs not only for India but for himself: Sourav Ganguly | Cricket News
inside Asian Cup starting here on Saturday, Kohli will resume his quest to score his first hundred internationals since 2019, having failed all of his previous attempts.
“He needs to score goals not only for India but for himself. Hopefully it will be a good season for him. We are all confident that he will come back,” Ganguly said in an interview. Interactive.
Kohli’s last international century comes during the Pink Ball Test with Bangladesh at Eden Gardens in 2019.
“I’m sure we’re all waiting for him to get those hundreds, he’s also working on it,” said Ganguly.
“The chance of getting a hundred in a T20 is less because of time. But, hopefully, this will be a big season for Kohli.”
The 33-year-old former India captain, who was last seen playing in England in June-July, is back after a month’s break, which saw him skip two series of white-ball matches in the UK. West Indies and Zimbabwe.
Kohli’s top score in his last five games was 20 points in India’s loss to England in the rescheduled Thursday test at Birmingham.
After being stripped of the captaincy at Royal Challengers Bangalore, Kohli had a quiet 15 IPL, scoring 341 runs from 16 games with an average of 22.73.
Ganguly, during a media interaction on the sidelines of Senco Gold & Diamonds’ DG Gold promotional event here, refused to agree that a major player like Kohli could withstand such a long-lasting patch. like this.
“He’s a very big player, been there for a long time. I know he has his own scoring formula. It’s impossible to have players of his caliber can’t have a long thin period. like that, I know he will definitely score.
“If he wasn’t a great player, he wouldn’t have scored so many runs in such a long time,” asserts Ganguly.
Defending champions India will begin their campaign with a clash with arch-rivals Pakistan in Dubai, about a year after they lost to them at the same venue in the T20 World Cup.
Ganguly said the T20 World Cup loss will have little effect on the outcome of the upcoming matches.
“Since 1992, I have been watching Indo-Pak matches closely. In these 30 years we have only lost once. It is not a miracle that you will always win. You lose once or twice. , that’s not a big deal,” Ganguly said.
When asked about the pressure of playing Pakistan, he said: “People play cricket as often as in the days when I was playing, it’s just another match you have to perform. I never thought just thinking ‘ Pakistan, Pakistan’ Maybe during a semi-final, World Cup qualifier, those feelings were there.
“If you consider all that, I know people like Rohit (Sharma), KL Rahul, Virat, (Rishabh), Pant know how to deal with pressure.”
When asked if Pakistan will miss their star tempo Shaheen AfridiGanguly said: “I don’t think one player makes a difference in any team. We don’t have Bumrah (the culprit) either.”
Ganguly added that Hardik Pandya’s return has been a huge boost for India after IPL.
“Absolutely… He was a huge addition to his side and bowling. Last year he was unfit for bowling, now he’s back to bowling. So, he’s a huge addition,” he said.
“There is no favorite team in T20 format. Does anyone think Gujarat will win the IPL. It’s a completely different format. You have so little time to recover,” he said when asked. about the candidates to lift the Asian Cup.
Ganguly’s BCCI presidency will end in September, and a Supreme Court bench headed by Justice DY Chandrachud will decide on the Council’s call to amend the “cool-down” period. after six years in office. He served in the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) before becoming head of BCCI.
“It’s not in my hands. I don’t know, anything that will be asked will be asked. We’ll see,” the 50-year-old said when asked if he wanted to continue beyond his term. are not.
Moving on to football, Ganguly said he is pleased to see former players Bhaichung Bhutia and Kalyan Chaubey fight for the presidency in the upcoming All India Football Federation (AIFF) elections.
“It’s always good when you have sports athletes coming to the executive board. It has to happen because they have a much better knowledge of the game. It’s good that Kalyan Chaubey and Bhaichung Bhutia are fighting. for the AIFF’s top spot,” concludes Ganguly.
The AIFF elections are scheduled for September 2.