Kolkata Knight Riders spinner Kuldeep Yadav is confident that Virat Kohli’s form on an international stage will not be affected by Royal Challengers Bangalore’s poor Indian Premier League (IPL) campaign.
As captain of the Bangalore franchise, Kohli is under great pressure as his team sits at the bottom of the points table after six straight defeats so far.
“He’s one of the best in the world, has broken so many records I don’t think he will be affected by this. He has a different hunger when he plays for India. Everyone is highly motivated to do well in the World Cup,” ICC quoted Kuldeep, as saying.
The Indian captain is one of the only two players -- other being Suresh Raina -- to have registered over 5000 runs in the league. In this season, Kohli has scored 203 runs at a strike-rate of 126.08.
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Going into the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2019, starting May 30 in England, Kuldeep further said: “With 5000-plus runs, individually he’s doing his best. But maybe his team (Bangalore) combination is not clicking. Maybe somewhere down the line, he’s lacking in team combination. He’s in great touch and if he keeps doing well like that it will be good for India in World Cup.”
{{/usCountry}}Going into the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2019, starting May 30 in England, Kuldeep further said: “With 5000-plus runs, individually he’s doing his best. But maybe his team (Bangalore) combination is not clicking. Maybe somewhere down the line, he’s lacking in team combination. He’s in great touch and if he keeps doing well like that it will be good for India in World Cup.”
{{/usCountry}}Meanwhile, Kolkata have benefitted this season from the heroics of Jamaica’s Andre Russell, who has scored 257 runs at an average of 128.50 and strike-rate of 212.39 so far.
When asked how the spinner will stop Russell when India play against West Indies in the World Cup, Kuldeep, placed seven on the ODI rankings, said: “If you have observed, Russell doesn’t go after the spinners much. He takes his time before attacking them but he is a terror for the pacers. I’ve a different plan against him. I am very clear in my mind about how to stop him.”