Veteran Indian leg-spinner Amit Mishra feels that Indian batting maestro Virat Kohli is back at his absolute best in the game after leaving the captaincy to Rohit Sharma in all three formats of the game. The 34-year-old has been the best batter for India across the formats.
Virat Kohli made a stunning return to form, starting from Asia Cup 2022, and went on to score centuries for India in all three formats of the game. In three innings in Asia Cup 2023, the right-handed batter has 129 runs scored at an average of 64.50 and could be crucial for the team’s success going into the ODI World Cup in India.
Speaking on TimesofIndia.com, Amit Mishra believes that Virat Kohli has started playing freely in the game after quitting his captaincy with the Indian team and asserted that he is more concentrated on his batting rather than thinking about other duties in the team.
“He is playing freely. Since he has quit his captaincy and Rohit became the captain, Virat is playing freely. He is now focussing and concentrating on his batting. With this, there is a lot of improvement in his batting.
“When you are a captain, you have to focus on both aspects of the team and your batting. Now Virat is no longer a captain and his sole focus is on his batting. Since he left the captaincy, his batting has improved. He is the same Virat we saw a few years back [before the lean phase]. He is giving the same glimpse,” Amit Mishra told TOI.
Despite his contribution to Indian cricket, Virat Kohli has come under a lot of criticism, especially during his captaincy tenure, where he failed to win a single ICC trophy. In his final tournament as captain, India failed to even qualify for the knockouts in the 2021 T20 World Cup in Dubai.
Virat Kohli Is In A Very Good Frame Of Mind Currently – Amit Mishra
Amit Mishra said that Virat Kohli has been enjoying his batting recently, which has shown in his game scores. He believes that the talented Indian batsman is having more fun on the field, which shows that he is in a good frame of mind.
“Virat is enjoying his batting, scoring runs, always smiling, having fun on the field, and speaking other team. He is in a very good frame of mind currently,” Amit Mishra added.
Virat Kohli would be highly motivated to do well for the team in the forthcoming mega event in India. As the last three ODI World Cups are won by the home team, India will look to make full use of the Indian conditions to end India’s title drought in ICC events.
