ICC World T20 2022: Shoaib Akhtar, a former Pakistani bowler, believes that there would be a lot of pressure on Team India’s captain, Rohit Sharma, and batter Virat Kohli ahead of the 2022 Twenty20 World Cup. Both of the team’s best batsmen have fallen well short of their runs in previous games. They are looking for a dramatic improvement in their performances.
Virat Kohli has a batting average of 22.73 in the just finished season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022. He had a total of 341 runs. The previous captain did not have much to show for his efforts during the competition, except for a fifty scored in the team’s very last league game.
With the bat, Rohit Sharma also had a terrible Indian Premier League season, which contributed to Mumbai Indians finishing in 10th position in the points standings. This was the worst season for the team captain, who has played for 15 years. He scored just 268 runs and had an average of 19.14.
In an interview with Harbhajan Singh that was shown on Sportskeeda, Akhtar stated the following after noting that the demand on the player to perform well grows as he enters his twilight years:
“There will be a lot of pressure on Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma to keep up their form, regardless of whether this will be the final edition of the Indian Premier League or the last time any of them compete in the World Cup. The level of pressure continues to increase as one approaches the end of their career. For example, people were often asking Sachin about why he couldn’t hit a century.”
ICC World T20 2022: Harbhajan Singh talks about Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli’s form
Harbhajan Singh is certain that both of them would be looking to establish a name for themselves at the Twenty20 World Cup in Australia. The former India off-spinner stated the following while acknowledging that Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli have been struggling with the bat:
“They did not have a successful Indian Premier League season. They are going into the T20 World Cup with the expectation that they would be the ones to steer the squad to victory. Because the new generation is about to enter the game, it is impossible to predict with absolute certainty which players will be given chances.”
As part of their preparation for the event, the Men in Blue have several Twenty20 matches scheduled against South Africa, the West Indies, Ireland, and England. However, prominent players like Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli will not be playing in the Twenty20 International series that will take place at home against the Proteas. The first match of the five-game series is scheduled to take place at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi on June 9.
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