'Those questioning Virat Kohli's place in T20 World Cup belong in gully cricket': Former Pakistan pacer

Mohammad Irfan heaped praise on Virat Kohli and said he is a must in the T20 World Cup team as he can win matches on his own.

Former Pakistan paceman Mohammad Irfan has slammed the critics of India batting maestro Virat Kohli who have doubts about his place in the T20 World Cup squad. According to a report in The Telegraph, the selectors have second thoughts about retaining Kohli in the T20I scheme of things. Kohli returned to India's T20 set-up after 14 months, earlier this year during the Afghanistan series. He made himself unavailable in the shortest format after the 2022 T20 World Cup but returned to the format in the Afghanistan series where he played last two matches.

Virat Kohli's place in the T20I set-up has once again come under the scanners.

Meanwhile, Irfan, who engaged in some on-field battles with Kohli in the past, heaped praise on the Indian batting star and said he is a must in the T20 World Cup team as he can win matches on his own.

"I don't have any second thoughts about it, you can't make your team without Virat Kohli because he is a very big batsman. We all saw what he did in the ODI World Cup last year, Virat Kohli won 3-4 matches in the World Cup for India on his own. If Kohli didn't step up on that occasion, India would have lost 3-4 matches including group-stage matches against Australia and New Zealand where India lost early wickets. He finished the match on his own," Irfan said on News24.

Kohli was the leading run-getter in the 2023 ODi World Cup where India finished as the runner-up. Meanwhile, his batting approach has put his place under the scanners as India are looking to play a fearless brand of cricket in T20Is, while Kohli is known for playing an anchor role.

Irfan lashed out at Kohli's critics and said those who are questioning his place belong in gully cricket.

"He won the matches in recent times, it's not fair to raise questions on his place. Those questioning Virat Kohli's place in the T20 World Cup belong in gully cricket," he added.

Strike rate in T20s

Meanwhile, the former Pakistan paceman also talked about the importance of strike rate in the T20 format.

"Strike rate is crucial in T20 format, if you play more balls then the pressure starts mounting on your team. If you score 30 off 10 balls then the next batsman will feel less pressure but if you score run-a-ball then things will be difficult for other batters," he added.