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Cricket Players'Not the right opposition to judge Virat. It wasn't that sort of quality bowling': Gambhir's blunt take on Kohli's fifty
Kohli on Wednesday notched up 59 off 44 balls and showed glimpses of his old self against Hong Kong.
Suryakumar Yadav on Wednesday made batting look easy as his unbeaten 68 off 26 balls set up India's 40-run win against minnows Hong Kong in the Asia Cup 2022 game in Dubai. Yadav made the game his own, hitting six fours and as many sixes to show how important he is going to be in the World T20 later this year in Australia. He put on 98 runs off 42 balls with star batter Virat Kohli, who is enduring a long batting slump.
Kohli notched up 59 off 44 balls and showed glimpses of his old self. It was his 31st fifty-plus score, which brought him on par with skipper Rohit Sharma’s record of most fifties in the shortest format. Kohli earlier looked nervy in the Pakistan fixture but his fifty against Hong Kong would have helped him gain some much-needed confidence.
But former India batter Gautam Gambhir feels Hong Kong is not the ideal opposition to judge Kohli's innings, which was decorated with a four and three impressive sixes.
"Probably this is not the right opposition to judge Virat Kohli or any batter. But the runs were important, you have to put in the effort to score runs in the middle, whoever the opposition might be," said Gambhir during a discussion on Star Sports.
"You can't judge whether he was seen in that rhythm or will come in that rhythm, I hope he will be seen in better rhythm in upcoming matches, because it was not that sort of quality bowling."
Gambhir lavished praise on Kohli for getting to a substantial score, while Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul faltered at the top. Kohli later took a backseat and Yadav gave India acceleration, as he plundered boundaries at will against Hong Kong’s inexperienced pace attack.
"A 60-run knock is a 60-run knock. Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul also had opportunities but Virat Kohli scored 60 runs, KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma did not do that. You will get confidence only by the hard work you put in the middle.
"Virat Kohli needed this knock a lot because he is ultimately coming back after a gap, it is not easy for any player. In the first match, there was help for the fast bowlers from the pitch, it was a better bowling line-up, but in the matches that will come ahead, whether it is Afghanistan or Pakistan, Virat Kohli will look in better rhythm now," concluded Gambhir.
