India’s wicketkeeper batter Dinesh Karthik backed Virat Kohli over the slow strike-rate debate that sparked during the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 ahead of the T20 World Cup 2024, which is set to begin on June 1 in the United States.
Kohli proved his prowess in the IPL 2024 as the former Indian skipper ended the season with 741 runs in 15 innings, the most by any player. Despite scoring a century and five half-centuries, the 35-year-old faced the heat about his strike rate with names like Sunil Gavaskar raising their concerns about the problem.
However, Karthik wasn’t of the same view and believed that Kohli performed well in the year. The wicketkeeper batter also added that the 35-year-old loves to prove people wrong.
"I can write a book on how he was this year. He started okay but thanks to people like Simon (Doull) and a few others, they just really spurred him on. And you don't want to see that side of Virat Kohli. I think he thrives on that. He is someone who inadvertently wants to hold on to certain things to do well," Karthik said on Cricbuzz.
"He loves proving people wrong, and even though he might not come out and say it, it really fuels his passion and he's like a molten lava coming out. He's fiery and you don't want to be anywhere close to it because you're going to get burnt for sure because he's done this time and time again," Karthik added.
Earlier, it was reported Kohli had informed the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) that he would be missing India’s warm-up match of the World Cup against Bangladesh.
The first batch of Indian players, who did not play in IPL playoffs, left for the USA on Saturday evening including their captain Rohit Sharma and others.
Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Shivam Dube, Mohammed Siraj, Axar Patel and Shubman Gill left India on Saturday night for the upcoming T20 World Cup.
Squad
Rohit Sharma (c), Hardik Pandya (vc), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wk), Sanju Samson (wk), Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd. Siraj.
Reserves: Shubman Gill, Rinku Singh, Khaleel Ahmed and Avesh Khan.
India's Schedule for T20 World Cup
India vs Ireland — June 5 in New York
India vs Pakistan —June 9 in New York
India vs USA — June 12 in New York
India vs Canada — June 15 in Lauderhill
- Virat Kohli
