Ajit Agarkar, leading the BCCI selection committee, has dropped a massive hint on Virat Kohli’s future in T20Is for India. Notably, India’s T20 World Cup squad is just weeks away from announcement and Virat Kohli has silenced all the talks with runs in IPL 2024. Before IPL began this year, there were whispers in the Indian media claiming that the selectors weren’t in favor of Virat’s inclusion in the T20 World Cup.
However, Virat Kohli has been in phenomenal touch with the bat for RCB. The main bone of contention for the selectors was Virat’s strike rate and that has been the point of discussion around him in IPL 2024 too. Although, the King has scored a plethora of runs, his team, RCB, have been in the bottom half of the IPL Points Table with just 1 win in 5 matches so far.
Virat Kohli has already scored a century in IPL this year that came in the game against Rajasthan Royals. He is currently the Orange Cap holder too in IPL 2024. Notably, Virat missed out on the entire Test series against England as he was blessed with a baby boy named Akaay, and Virat decided to skip the Test series for his son’s birth.
His prolonged absence added fuel to the fire of rumors around his spot in India’s T20 World Cup squad. Reports had emerged that the Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee was not rooting for Virat to be in the T20 World Cup squad. Now, Ajit Agarkar has cleared much of the air with his recent remarks on the Indian legend.
Ajit Agarkar’s defining verdict on Virat Kohli’s T20I future
“You look at guys like Virat Kohli, he is one of those guys who set the benchmark. 10-15 years into his career, he has only got fitter, you can see the results,” Agarkar told on SportifywithPRG.
“If someone like him sets an example and puts forward certain things that you need or certain fitness levels that you need, gradually it progresses across the ecosystem. Gradually it has progressed (to the younger generation). The one difference you have seen over the last 15-20 years or so is the fitness levels of players,” he added.
Agarkar added that while the IPL had grown to be a great place to find talent, the most important quality that would make a player stand out from the others was a strong temperament. A bunch of players have shone brightly in IPL 2024 too. Shivam Dube has made headlines again with his power-hitting abilities in this year’s IPL. Shashank Singh and Ashutosh Sharma have displayed immense composure in finishing games for Punjab Kings.
Mayank Yadav has been another revelation in IPL 2024. The young Indian pacer has taken the world by storm with his quick deliveries and immaculate lengths. Sai Sudharsan has been a consistent performer with the bat this IPL for Gujarat Titans. Riyan Parag is another finisher in the making as the young Indian lad has displayed never-seen-before maturity in this IPL and is only second to Virat Kohli in the Orange Cap race.
Hence, it will be interesting to see as to who the Ajit Agarkar-led selectors go ahead with as far as India’s T20 World Cup Squad 2024 is concerned.
