Six months after a record-breaking show at the 2023 ODI World Cup, batting superstar Virat Kohli will begin his quest to win a maiden T20 World Cup title when India start their campaign on June 5 in New York. This will be Kohli’s sixth appearance at the biennial event but the closest he has come to winning the title was in 2014 when India lost to Sri Lanka in the final.
Kohli, with 1141 runs from 27 matches, is the leading run-getter in the history of T20 world cups. The next best in this list among the active cricketers is his India teammate Rohit Sharma who has 963 runs from 39 matches.
It’s a reflection of how far Kohli is ahead of his peers who often term him as the best batter of his generation when all three formats are taken into consideration.
No wonder his former India teammate Yuvraj Singh, a legend in his own right, agrees.
“He (Kohli) has definitely broken all the records in this era,” Yuvraj said in a chat with ICC. “The best batter of this generation, I feel, in all formats. And I think he is also someone who needs a World Cup Medal. He has one. I’m sure he is not satisfied with one. I think he surely deserves that medal as well.”
Kohli has played some of the most iconic innings in the T20 world cup history including the 82 off 51 against Australia in a successfull run-chase of 161 resulting in India’s entry into the semi-finals.
“I think he understands his game really well,” Yuvraj said. “He knows if he’s there till the end, he is going to win the game for India and he has done that on some big occasions – against Australia in Mohali as well.
“Once he had the confidence of chasing and knowing the situation, he knows how to bat in these situations, knows which bowlers to attack, which bowlers to take singles off, when to attack again, handle the pressure and knows when to change his game,” he added.
Kohli’s most successfull T20 World Cup was in 2014 when he made 319 runs from six innings including four half-centuries, playing a significant role in India’s run into the final.
“I think he was outstanding. He was in one of the best forms of his life. He was hitting the ball unbelievably. And I had a small partnership with him (in the final) and then he batted with Dhoni,” Yuvraj said.
Yuvraj, who was part of that India squad, revealed why Kohli was so productive at the competition.
“Why I think he was so good was because every time in nets or a practice situation, he would not go and just slog balls. In the nets, he would always bat like he was batting in a match. He put that in repetition after repetition after repetition. I have not seen that in many players. I think that is the key to his success,” he said.
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