Will the real Virat Kohli please stand up? With Rohit Sharma regaining top form in the lead-up to the ICC T20 World Cup 2024 semi-final, former Indian cricketer Ambati Rayudu believes a Kohli special is loading in the penultimate clash of the ICC event against Jos Buttler’s England. Rain gods have made their presence felt in Guyana as Team India is up against England in the second semi-final of the ICC T20 World Cup at the Providence Stadium.
With Rohit leading the charge of the Men In Blue at the T20 World Cup, Rayudu feels luck will favour the Asian giants in the semi-finals because of their ‘selfless’ style of playing the shortest format. Skipper Rohit powered India to semi-finals with an impressive win over Australia in its final fixture of the Super 8 stage. The 37-year-old played a captain’s knock as India avenged its 2023 World Cup final defeat against Australia.
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‘Rohit has been calm as well and knows his role’
“There’s a brilliant atmosphere in the Indian team. Everyone is quiet and composed. I think they are brilliantly prepared. Rohit has been calm as well and knows his role as well as that of others in the team. Whatever is controllable, they are controlling it brilliantly. The uncontrollable is a luck which ofcourse they will need. But I feel luck will favor India because of their selfless cricket,” Rayudu told Star Sports.
Keeping an eye on Kohli’s net session in the build-up to the blockbuster clash with England, Rayudu observed that the former India skipper needs luck to go his way in the rematch of the T20 World Cup 2022 semi-final. Kohli has failed to fire in the 2024 edition of the T20 World Cup. The 35-year-old has registered scores of one, four, nought, 24 and 37 at the T20 World Cup.
‘The way Kohli was hitting the ball…’
“The way he (Kohli) was hitting the ball and reading the length of the bowlers, especially the spinners, it just feels like a matter of time before he gets a big score. Just because he didn’t score runs doesn’t mean he is not in form. He just needs luck to go his way and I think the prayers of billions will make it happen,” Rayudu added.