Kohli is a player who can smash a 100 without even hitting a six – Sanjay Bangar reserves high praise for Virat Kohli

Ever since India’s exit from the 2022 T20 World Cup, the Men in Blue have played 13 T20Is which have not featured Virat Kohli in any one of them. Rohit Sharma recently said in an interview that the senior pair of himself and Virat are preparing for the upcoming World Cup and chances are rare that they would be returning to the Indian fold at least this year.

India have also started trying out new faces as we saw in the recently concluded West Indies series, where Shubman Gill was paired alongside Yashasvi Jaiswal while Mukesh Kumar was handed over a debut. The belief is rife that India are also planning to make some crucial changes to their team in the shortest format of the game.

Former RCB coach, Sanjay Bangar, had a crucial observation about Kohli’s T20 exploits as he shushed doubters on the Indian legend's re-inclusion to the Indian side in the shortest format of the game. 

Talking on the CricketBasu Youtube channel, Bangar said, “100 percent. Just look at what he did in the previous World Cup. Those close matches – there were some edge-of-the-seat encounters where emotions run high and you know that this is a big-stage game where the eyes of the nation are glued on you. One small mistake can make a difference. That's where you need players who have gone through those situations. At that point, it doesn't really matter what your strike-rate is or how you've done in the IPL. No, in a big game, you require big match players and he showed it.”

He further added, “Recall the India vs Pakistan game. Even for that matter, the quarterfinal between India and Australia in the 2016 T20 World Cup. He has been doing it consistently. Everyone has their own style of making runs, and it's not mandatory to have six-hitters to win matches. Had it been the case, West Indies would have won all T20 World Cups. Kohli is a player who can smash a 100 without even hitting a six. If you don't have players who can soak in pressure, then you are asking for trouble.”