Yuzvendra Chahal feels that it’s not just tons that matter and that Virat Kohli has made several valuable contributions in the time period.
Yuzvendra Chahal has played a lot of cricket with Virat Kohli. Apart from when they turned out together for India, Yuzvendra Chahal also spent eight years at Royal Challengers Bangalore, before being bought by Rajasthan Royals in the latest season of the Indian Premier League 2022.
Yuzvendra Chahal: One Doesn’t Talk About Valuable Contributions Of 60-70 From Virat Kohli Because Of Standards Set By Him
Virat Kohli has been in focus for an extended lean patch and a stretch of three years without an international century, but the star leg-spinner feels that it’s not just tons that matter and that Virat Kohli has made several valuable contributions in the time period.
“If there is someone who has 50+ average in T20Is, he has been the Man Of The Tournament in two T20 World Cups, he has 70 hundreds across all formats. You just see his average across all formats, the problem is we just think about his 100s, we don’t talk about those valuable contributions of 60-70 because of the standards he has set,” Yuzvendra Chahal said.
“If he is there at the crease and has 15-20 runs behind him, I am telling you no bowler wants to bowl to him,” he went on to say.
Virat Kohli has been facing a massive slump in his batting form for almost three years now. His wretched run on the England tour has also raised questions about his place in the T20I set-up when the T20I World Cup is less than 2 months away.
The much-awaited Asia Cup 2022 gets underway on August 27 in the UAE and a day later, India will take on arch-rivals Pakistan in Dubai. The high-voltage clash gets more exciting with the fact that Virat Kohli will be back in action after more than a month-long break.
Virat Kohli, who has been struggling with the bat, has been criticized for opting to rest for the recently-concluded West Indies tour and the Zimbabwe ODIs. A century has eluded the former captain since 2019.
Yuzvendra Chahal’s Role As A Wicket-Taking Bowler Has Been The Same Under Different Captains
Yuzvendra Chahal also spoke about playing under Virat Kohli’s captaincy and that of Rohit Sharma. Rohit Sharma has enjoyed great success as a Team India skipper. He has a 100% win record in the two Tests he has captained and has won more than 80% of the matches he has overseen in ODIs and T20Is as well.
Rohit Sharma has performed on the big stage and captained 35 T20Is so far in his career, winning 29 and losing six. His win percentage is 82.85%. India won 13 and lost 3 ODIs in 16 matches he captained in ODIs.
“My role has always been the same under different captains, they always use me as a wicket-taking bowler. For me, they are all same. I have gotten the liberty as a bowler. They always prefer on what I want to do. Sometimes Rohit bhaiya asks me this is the situation, what will you do? As a bowler, you know, you cannot be relaxed in any over,” Chahal said.
After his worst season in the IPL 2022 where he scored just 341 runs at an average of 22.73, Virat Kohli endured a lean patch on the England tour as well, with returns of 11 and 20 in the Edgbaston Test and 1, 11, 16, and 17 in two T20Is and as many ODIs.