T20 World Cup 2024: Sourav Ganguly, Anil Kumble open up on Kohli's role in the mega event

Former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly on Friday said the Indian team management should make Virat Kohli open in next monthrsquos T20 World Cup to exploit the star batterrsquos rich vein of form in the ongoing Indian Premier League Kohli is the current Orange Cap holder in IPL17 with 634 runs from 12 matches averaging 7044 and at an impressive strikerate of 15351 which is significantly higher than his IPL career rate of 13431lsquoPlaying exceptionally wellrsquoldquoVirat is playing exceptionally well The way Kohli batted last nightmdash90 in quick time you need to use him as opener in T20 World Cup He should open evidenced by his last few IPL innings which have been outstandingrdquo Ganguly said on the sidelines of a promotional event here yesterdaySourav Ganguly at an event in Bangalore yesterday PicPTIGanguly said India have picked a balanced squad for the T20 World Cup which has the wherewithal to land the trophy after a gap of 17 years Indiarsquos lone triumph in the T20 World Cup came in 2007 the inaugural edition held in South Africa ldquoThis is an excellent squad I think they have picked the best possible squad Apart from batting depth bowling looks excellentAlso ReadldquoThat decision lies with Agarkar Jay Shah opens up on Iyer Kishans snublsquoBumrahrsquos the bestrsquoldquoJasprit Bumrah is the best fast bowler in the world at the moment We have experience in Kuldeep Yadav Axar Patel Mohammed Siraj Itrsquos an ideal combination we have this timerdquo said GangulyThis edition of the IPL has seen teams breaching the 250run mark quite effortlessly and the 51yearold said the trend would continue in the future as well ldquoThis is going to be the trend in the years to come T20 cricket has become a poweroriented game and thatrsquos what it is going to berdquoFor Indiarsquos sake yoursquod want Viratrsquos form to continue in T20 WC KumbleFormer India cricketer Anil Kumble heaped praise on Virat Kohli and expects the star Indian batter to continue his prime IPL form in the T20 World Cup as well Kohlirsquos scintillating 92 off 47 balls followed by a collective bowling effort helped RCB record a 60run win over PBKS their fifth win of the IPL 2024 after losing six games in a rowldquoHe Kohli has been in outstanding form He had a break coming into this IPL and since then hersquos been relentless in his pursuit of excellence You could see that Hersquos at the top of the scoring table with 634 runs and Irsquom sure for RCB you would want him to win the next two games and hopefully qualify But for Indiarsquos sake yoursquod want his form to continue in the T20 World Cup as wellrdquo Kumble told Jio CinemaFormer Australia cricketer Shane Watson was impressed with Kohlirsquos allround effort helping other batters to score around him Kohli was electric on the field effecting a stunning runout from deep midwicket with a direct hit to dismiss the dangerouslooking Shahshank Singh who got out on 37 off 19 balls634No of runs scored by Virat Kohli in IPL17 the most by any player this season15351Kohlirsquos strikerate in this IPL editionThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever