The former Pakistan captain Rashid Latif feels that Virat Kohli, playing on the flat surfaces of the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru has made life difficult in scoring runs for the batter, as the pitches in this ongoing Men’s T20 World Cup 2024, in the West Indies and the United States of America, haven’t been easy.
The former India captain hasn’t enjoyed smooth progress in this competition so far, having notched up only 75 runs in seven innings, at an average of just over 10, and a strike rate of exactly 100, with a couple of ducks, and a best score of 37 runs, against Bangladesh.
Virat Kohli has been asked to play out of his nature in this tournament, coming as an opener, and trying to smash the ball from the very first over, and given he is such a rhythm plan, he was part of the World Cup in tough tracks in New York, and couldn’t get the smoothness in this batting at the start.
‘There is not a Bengaluru pitch, this is a different one’- Rashid Latif on Virat Kohli’s form
Kohli came into the T20 World Cup on the back of his purple patch in the recently concluded Indian Premier League (IPL), where he finished as the highest run-getter of the tournament, with 741 runs in 15 innings, at an average of 61.75, and a strike rate of 154.69, with five half-centuries and one hundred, with the best score of unbeaten 113-runs.
Once he arrived at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium, Virat Kohli, on every single occasion in the group stage of the game, looked to charge on the bowlers and lost his edge of the bat.
When they were playing against Ireland, Virat straightaway went after the pacer, as the ball taking the outside edge of his blade died in the hands of the third-man umpire. He again started with a cover drive for four, but suddenly on the next ball, found the extra-cover fielder in trying to smash the slow short ball.
The same continued in the last game in the semifinal against England. The Delhi-born Virat Kohli flicked Reece Tropley for a six and decided to go the same shots in the next two deliveries. He missed the first one, before finding the next one rattling his stumps.
Now on a big finals day against South Africa, the eyes will be on whether Virat could end the tournament on a high, and contribute in some way with the bat.
The former captain of the Pakistan team, Rashid Latif reminded Kohli that these pitches in the Caribbean aren’t as flat as it was during the IPL, where the ball comes nicely under the bat.
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‘Virat Kohli went out of his plan. This is not a Bengaluru pitch; this is a different one. Hitting the ball is not easy on this surface.’ Latif expressed this on a show called ‘Caught Behind’. ‘The entire team combined to post a total of 171. It is not that easy, there are problems here for batters.’
The veteran also praised the way India have been moving forward under the captaincy of Rohit Sharma, who has ignored the captaincy role and has kept on nailing the boundaries, for the entire powerplay, as he did against England in the semifinal or punched out a 41-ball 92-run knock against Australia in St Lucia.
‘It was tough for Rohit Sharma as he lost the toss and had to come out to bat. Virat Kohli was dismissed and rain interrupted the game.’ He concluded. ‘That period is very bad. Waiting for umpires, seeing super soppers in action and then coming out to bat again’
India will face South Africa in the final of the T20 World Cup 2024, at the Kensington Oval, in Bridgetown, Barbados.