Virat Kohli is India's highest scorer in the Asia Cup so far. But even he would admit that his still far from his best. He scored a laborious 35 off 34 balls against Pakistan and then followed it up with an unbeaten 59 off 44 balls against Hong Kong. After all the talk about his poor form in the lead-up to the Asia Cup, fans would be happy that he is at least back among the runs but his fluency still remains a concern. Kohli is yet to dominate the bowlers like he used to do even a couple of years ago. He has shown glimpses of his best with a couple of scintillating pull shots against Pakistan and a couple of powerful slog sweeps that went for six but such are his standards that the expectations are never-ending.
Amid all this, former Pakistan captain Rashid Latif made a controversial remark. While praising Suryakumar Yadav, whose unbeaten 68 off 26 balls overshadowed Kohli's half-century against Hong Kong, Latif said Kohli can never become someone like Suryakumar Yadav or Rohit Sharma and that is one the main reasons why Royal Challenger Bangalore, Kohli's IPL franchise, have never won the title.
"Virat kabhi Suryakumar nahi ban sakte, kabhi Rohit Sharma nahi ban sakte. Unke khelne ka tarika RCB mein bhi same hai tabhi wo kabhi champion nahi bane. (Virat can never become Suryakumar Yadav. He can never become Rohit Sharma. His playing style for Bangalore is also the same and that's why they could never become champions)," Latif said on Pakistani YouTube show 'Game on Hai.'
The former Pakistan wicketkeeper-batter also compared Kohli to MS Dhoni's playing style and said the latter can make up for a slow start with a few sixes but Kohli won't be able to do that in T20Is. "Take the example of MS Dhoni. Wo agar dot ball khel le na 3-4 tab bhi 3 chhakke lagake make up kar dega but Virat Kohli wo kar nei payega. Toh mamla ye nei hai ki Virat Kohli aj slow khela ya tez khela. Ye khelte hi aise hai. (Even if he is playing dot balls, he will be able to make up for that with a few sixes but Kohli can't. So there really shouldn't be any debate on whether Kohli played fast or slow against Hong Kong. That is his natural game) He mostly goes for the big shots after he has crossed 30-35 from whatever I've followed IPL or Indian cricket. Rohit Sharma is one of them who looks to take advantage of the powerplay and then tries to take the game till the end," he added.
{{/usCountry}}The former Pakistan wicketkeeper-batter also compared Kohli to MS Dhoni's playing style and said the latter can make up for a slow start with a few sixes but Kohli won't be able to do that in T20Is. "Take the example of MS Dhoni. Wo agar dot ball khel le na 3-4 tab bhi 3 chhakke lagake make up kar dega but Virat Kohli wo kar nei payega. Toh mamla ye nei hai ki Virat Kohli aj slow khela ya tez khela. Ye khelte hi aise hai. (Even if he is playing dot balls, he will be able to make up for that with a few sixes but Kohli can't. So there really shouldn't be any debate on whether Kohli played fast or slow against Hong Kong. That is his natural game) He mostly goes for the big shots after he has crossed 30-35 from whatever I've followed IPL or Indian cricket. Rohit Sharma is one of them who looks to take advantage of the powerplay and then tries to take the game till the end," he added.
{{/usCountry}}Latif, however, called Kohli the best batter in ODIs and said he belongs to a different level along with Steve Smith, Babar Azam, Joe Root and Kane Williamson.
"Virat Kohli kabhi T20 ka behtareen player nahi tha. His average was good but his strike rate... We can compare him to Steve Smith, Kane Williamson, Joe Root, Babar Azam. But none of them have been great match-winners in T20Is. In ODIs, there's nobody even close to Virat Kohli. Or for that matter even Smith, Williamson, Babar Azam. There are three phases in ODI cricket. 1-10 overs the first, then 11-40 and then the final overs. It's a different game. You need the most amount of skill in ODI cricket. Virat Kohli plays like that."