IND vs ENG LIVE: Virat Kohli to RETURN in T20Is after 5 MONTHS. Follow IND vs ENG 2nd T20 Live Updates
Kohli, who last played a T20 international in February, has featured in only two games since India’s underwhelming campaign in the T20 World Cup in October-November when he was captain of the national side.
IND vs ENG LIVE: India vs England 2nd T20 Live: After five months, Virat Kohli will return to India’s T20 squad for the second T20 against England at Edgbaston. During this period, he has not played 10 T20Is, but he is under scrutiny more than ever. According to crickbee sources, his place in the T20 team is up for grabs with the T20 World Cup just three months away. Now that he’s not the captain, all he can do is score and silence critics. But it’s his batting stance that’s also up for debate. Is he going to open along with Rohit or would he be come at no.3.
Despite being India’s designated No. 3 in cue ball formats, it is his poor form that forced Royal Challengers Bangalore to give him the opening spot. But success eluded him as IPL 2022 saw him return for golden ducks three times. While his IPL 2022 form will haunt him, he needs to prove himself once again.
The veteran batsman has 3296 runs in 97 T20Is. His tally includes 30 half-centuries. Kohli hasn’t scored a century in the shortest format at the highest level. Rohit has 4 tons in T20Is while Guptill has breached that mark twice.
Rohit will aim to keep the top spot. He will play one extra T20I than Kohli as the Indian captain missed the one-off Test match due to a COVID-19 positive test. Guptill will have an the opportunity to leapfrog the duo as New Zealand are set to take on Ireland in a three-match T20I series later this month.
IND vs ENG LIVE: Will Virat Kohli end his bad form?
- Kohli’s new attacking game isn’t quite working at the moment. Since IPL, he has looked to attack from the first ball and has often given away his wicket out of the blue.
- 3 1st ball ducks in IPL 2022 is a tale of his poor run of form.
- For RCB, he scored just 341 runs at an average of 22.73 and a strike rate of 115.99.
- Changing his batting position in IPL did not help either.
- For India, although he has scored two half-centuries in his last five innings, it is his strike rate that is of big concern.
- Virat Kohli has managed a strike rate of just 112.29 in those games.
- After skipping Sri Lanka and South Africa series at home, Kohli will have to capitalise on the two matches in England as he is likely to rest in the five-match T20 series against West Indies.
- That will give him a maximum of 9 T20 matches to get his form back and prepare himself for T20 World Cup in October.
The first game against England saw the return of Rohit after a COVID-induced break and the team put together a perfect game. The batters displayed the uninhibited approach that has become essential in the shortest format while the pacers exploited the conditions brilliantly. Shedding the conservative style of play that let them down in the World Cup, Indian batters gave clear signs of their approach going forward. The powerplay fetched 66 runs and even after the fall of wickets, the intent was to go hard from ball one. However, the team can improve its finishing skills, an area it lacked in on Thursday night. Besides Kohli, Rishabh Pant, Jasprit Bumrah, Ravindra Jadeja and Shreyas Iyer have also joined the T20 squad following a break after the fifth Test here. It seemed India were a batter short in the series-opener though they ended up with 198. Jadeja is a like for like replacement for Axar Patel and his inclusion also makes the batting unit more solid.
