"There has To Be A...": Jacques Kallis On Virat Kohli-Rohit Sharma Return To T20Is

14.01.2024 - 04:47 sports.ndtv.com

Legendary South African all-rounder Jacques Kallis on Friday expressed his take on star batters Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli returning to the Indian T20I side more than a year ahead of the ICC T20 World Cup 2024 in June, saying that there has to be a balance between youth and experience.

Virat and Rohit have finally made their return to T20Is during the ongoing three-match series against Afghanistan. It marks their first appearance in a short format following a crushing ten-wicket loss to England in the semifinals of the ICC T20 World Cup 2022 in Australia.

While Rohit played the first game in which he was run out for a duck, Virat will return to play the remaining two matches after missing the first one in Mohali due to personal reasons. "I think there has to be a balance between the two.

It depends on how you want to go in the tournament and what your game plans are. Experience has a big role for sure," Kallis said while speaking to ANI.

cricket South Africa Cricket Team India Cricket Team on Virat Kohli Rohit Sharma Jacques Kallis Australia South Africa India Afghanistan

Virat Kohli has hardly ever set foot at the Bengaluru-based National Cricket Academy for any fitness-related rehabilitation work, said Indian skipper Rohit Sharma, who wants aspiring cricketers to follow the ace batter's exemplary work-ethic. "Virat Kohli has never been to NCA in his entire career. I would say that all the younger players should look up to the passion that he has," Rohit told former India wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik on JioCinema. "Leave alone how he plays the cover drive, flick, cut but first things first you have to understand what is the quality of the players that makes him where he is today." Kohli has opted out of the first two Tests of the ongoing five-match series against England for "personal reasons".

"Hope This Phase Passes...": Harsha Bhogle On Virat Kohli Opting Out Of Two England Tests

Indian cricket team star batter Virat Kohli opted out of the first two Tests in the upcoming five-match series against England starting January 25 citing 'personal reasons'. While no official reason was provided by the cricketer or the BCCI, there have been a lot of speculation on social media and among cricket fans. Even the BCCI urged the media and fans in its official statement to not speculate about the reason behind Kohli's absence and to respect his privacy. Renowned cricket commentator Harsha Bhogle took to social media to express his views about Kohli's sudden withdrawal from the two matches and he pointed out that if a passionate cricketer like Kohli decided to opt out of Tests, the reason must be "deeply compelling".

Not Rohit Sharma Or Virat Kohli! This Batter To Win BCCI's Cricketer Of The Year Award: Report

Former India all-rounder and head coach Ravi Shastri will be honoured with BCCI's Lifetime Achievement Award on Tuesday. Shubman Gill will be presented with Cricketer of the Year award following a memorable 12 months when he became the fastest to cross the 2000-run mark in ODIs and also scored five hundreds in the format. "He (Shastri) has been chosen for the honour while Gill will be awarded the cricketer of the year," said a BCCI official. The BCCI awards will be held for the first time since 2019 and both India and England teams are expected to be in attendance ahead of the first Test beginning on Thursday.

"Rohit Sharma Is Capable Of Doing It. Virat Kohli Should...": India Legend's Blunt Advice

Legendary Indian cricket team batter Kris Srikkanth believes Virat Kohli should stick to his natural game instead of adopting an aggressive approach from the very first ball. In the recently concluded T20I series against Afghanistan, fans and experts were surprised with the style of batting that Kohli displayed. After missing the first game due to personal reasons, Kohli slammed 29 off just 16 balls in the second game with couple of slog sweeps. However, in the next match, he scored the first golden duck of his T20I career after he was caught at mid-off after miscuing the very first ball.

Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma Chase History, On Verge Of Massive Records Ahead Of 3rd Afghanistan T20I

With the series already in the bag, the Indian side will be eager to perfect its freshly-baked T20I template as a team and hope that skipper Rohit Sharma's bat finally fires when they face Afghanistan in the third and last match of the rubber in Bengaluru on Wednesday. Rohit needs only 44 runs to surpass Virat Kohli and become the India skipper with most T20I runs. Rohit currently has 1527 runs to his name as India's T20I skipper. Additionally, another win as India's T20I skipper will see Rohit surpassing MS Dhoni to become the most successful India captain in the format. Currently both are tied at 41.

Virat Kohli, Anushka Sharma Receive Invitation For Ram Temple 'Pran Pratishtha' Ceremony

Virat Kohli is the latest Indian cricket team player to get an invitation to attend the Ram Temple consecration ceremony in Ayodhya on January 22. Before this, MS Dhoni, Sachin Tendulkar, Venkatesh Prasad were among the players who were sent invitations for the auspicious occasion. Kohli and his wife Anuskha Sharma, who is a well-known Bollywood actress, were presented with the invitation to attend the grand inauguration of the temple in Uttar Pradesh. According to media reports, Kohli was travelling with the Indian cricket team for the ongoing T20I series against Afghanistan but the star batter came back to his home in Mumbai to receive the invitation personally before going to Bengaluru for the third match.