Former India captain Virat Kohli is pumped up and ready to put his best foot forward as he gets ready for all-important India vs Pakistan clash in the Asia Cup 2022 in Dubai on Sunday (August 28). Kohli batted with great aplomb in the nets – Team India’s first training session ahead of the Asia Cup.
Not only did Kohli meet captain Babar Azam and the Pakistan team, but he also took Afghanistan’s Rashid Khan by surprise. The Afghan and Gujarat Titans all-rounder recently narrated a story when Kohli batted for two and a half hours in the net during IPL. Rashid also hailed Kohli’s positive mindset.
“During the IPL, we had a match the next day against RCB. In the nets, I was just counting the time Virat was out there. To be honest, he batted for two and half hours. Main aisa hairan hua (I was so shocked). Our nets were finished and still, he was there batting. The next day he scored around 70 against us. His mindset is very positive,” Rashid told sports presenter Sawera Pasha ahead of the Asia Cup.
The next day, Kohli hit a brilliant 73 off 54 balls to guide RCB to an easy eight-wicket win over Gujarat Titans by chasing down 169 in 18.4 overs.
Rashid said that the Indian batter isn’t really out of form but the problem is that people only expect him to score hundreds all the time. “The kind of shots that he plays, you don't think he's out of form at all. As per me, he is not out of form. The issue is that there are a lot of expectations from him as people expect him to score a century in every alternate match,” Rashid said.
The last hundred from Kohli’s bat came in November 2019. Since then, there have been a number of opportunities across formats but Kohli hasn't been able to cross the century mark. “Even when we look at his Test knocks, he did all the hard work and survived during tough periods and has then gotten out in 50s or 60s. If it was any other batter, everyone would have said that he was in good form. Kohli has set the bar so high that people now want him to just score hundreds,” he added
India takes on Pakistan on August 28 and that is the big one and if things go as per expectation – the two teams could lock horns thrice in a span of 14 days. The top-two teams from each group will further play in a ‘Super 4’ round, meaning there is a high probability of at least another India – Pakistan game in the second round before the final where the top two would feature.
