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Cricket Players'We would've lost to Pakistan if he hadn't been there': Ex-India WK slams BCCI for Kohli's 'exclusion' from SL T20Is
The former India wicketkeeper slammed BCCI for ‘excluding’ Virat Kohli from the T20I squad against Sri Lanka.
Team India's squads for the upcoming limited-overs series against Sri Lanka were announced earlier this week; while captain Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and KL Rahul are named in the ODI team, all three were missing from the squad for the shortest format. India are playing three T20Is against India and Hardik Pandya is named the captain for the same, with Suryakumar Yadav playing as his deputy.
A number of fans and former cricketers expressed their surprise at the decision – particularly on the exclusion of Virat Kohli – who had played important knocks for the side in the last month's T20 World Cup. Kohli was the top scorer in the tournament with 296 runs to his name in six matches at a strike rate of 136.40. He had scored an unbeaten 82 in India's opening game of the tournament against Pakistan, steering India out of trouble to eventually help the side chase down a 160-run target.
Former India wicketkeeper-batter Saba Karim was “surprised” by Kohli's omission from the squad, insisting that India wouldn't have been Pakistan in the T20 World Cup game if Kohli hadn't been in the XI.
“Virat Kohli’s exclusion came as a big surprise. He was given a particular role in T20Is, and he was exceptional in that. We would have lost to Pakistan if he hadn’t been there at the T20 World Cup," he told India News.
“He is one such player who has given the team great stability in the format. Apart from Kohli, all the other absentees have missed out due to their underwhelming performances," he added.
However, Saba also stated that Kohli can make a return to the team and doors certainly aren't closed on his T20I career.
“It doesn’t mean that players who aren’t a part of the T20 squad for the Sri Lanka series won’t be able to make a comeback," Karim explained.
“If some of the new guys don’t do well, they will have to replace them. So the likes of Virat Kohli and Rishabh Pant can return to the team if that happens," he added.
