The spotlight is back on Virat Kohli as returned to action in the Asia Cup 2022 encounter against Pakistan on Sunday. The 33-year-old scored crucial 35 runs off 34 balls in the 148-run chase, however, he didn’t look at his fluent best during the knock. He started on a scratchy note and was dropped on duck by Fakhar Zaman, however later found his groove back and scored three fours and a six.
Eventually, Kohli played a loose shot on long-off and got caught by Iftikar Ahmed on left-arm Mohammad Nawaz’s delivery.
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Former India opener Wasim Jaffer feels that everybody expects Kohli to score a fluent 60-70-run which he used to do in 2016-17. Jaffer said that a fluent half-century will help Kohli regain his confidence.
“I hope so. We all want a big innings. You can’t expect him to score a century in T20 cricket but we at least hope to see a swashbuckling 60-70-run innings from Virat Kohli, especially with fluency.
“Personally, I want to see his fluency back. The way he used to play in 2016-17, we haven’t seen that fluency so far. I hope that comes back and if that 60-70-run knock comes, his self-confidence will shoot up," Jaffer told ESPNcricinfo.
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Talking about the upcoming clash against Hong Kong, Jaffer said that India won’t take Hong Kong easily as tables can turn easily in the shortest format of the game.
“Compared to Pakistan, it is easy but I don’t think the Indian team shouldn’t be even slightly complacent because the tables don’t take too long to turn in T20 cricket. It’s a small format and games change within overs," said Jaffer.
Jaffer further pointed out how Hong Kong gave a tough fight to India when the two teams faced each other last time during Asia Cup 2018.
“I don’t think India will take this game lightly and they shouldn’t either. They are coming from a win so will want to continue that. I feel the Indian team will keep its guard strong. Hong Kong is a bit of an unknown quantity, we don’t play them often. The last time India played them was in the Asia Cup, they faced a lot of difficulties. They had a 174-175 run opening partnership and it was a very close match. That was the 50-over format and this is T20 so I feel India won’t be complacent at all," he added.
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