'ICC title important for India, not whether Virat Kohli achieves 100 tons': Ex-Pakistan cricketer
'ICC title important for India, not whether Virat Kohli achieves 100 tons': Ex-Pakistan cricketer
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After struggling for a long period, India’s star batter Virat Kohli has finally returned to form. The 34-year-old has been again hitting the headlines with some impressive innings since the Asia Cup 2022.
However, former Pakistan spinner Rashid Latif, speaking on his YouTube channel, said that it is irrelevant if India fail to win ICC events and took a subtle dig at the Indian Premier League as well.
He came off the recently-concluded T20 World Cup as the leading run-scorer with 296 runs even though India endured a disappointing elimination. He was rested in the New Zealand tour next and then returned to action in the ODI series against Bangladesh.
In the final game of the three-match series, Kohli ended the 1214-day-long century drought registering his 44th ton in the format. With the much-awaited hundred, he went quite close to surpassing the record of the great Sachin Tendulkar.
The topic has become the talk of the town as Kohli needs only five more centuries to breach Tendulkar’s tally of 49 centuries in the 50-over format. On an overall basis, the former India skipper is just 28 behind the legendary batter who has 100 tons under his belt.
While speaking about this topic, ex-Pakistan captain Rashid Latif denied hyping it, instead, he highlighted India’s poor show in the ICC tournaments in recent times. According to him, Indian fans are bothered about ICC trophies, not about individual records.
“The time has not come to calculate the centuries, not yet. It is irrelevant. They should bring home a trophy. India hasn’t taken home a trophy in many years. What is important to Indian cricket and the fans is a title, not whether Kohli achieves 100 or 200 centuries,” he explained.
Latif also took a subtle dig at the Indian Premier League (IPL) and stated that these type of competitions are only meant for branding and raising money. Thus, supporters are not worried about them at all. He also pointed out the massive disaster that Team India had faced in the just-finished Asia Cup and T20 World Cup.
“IPL and Indian cricket are far ahead financially. But there is now pressure from the media and fans who demand a title. Although Kohli has the ability to score 100 hundreds, the scenario has changed. The Champions Trophy, the 2019 World Cup, the last two T20 World Cups, and the Asia Cup all are done. Yes, 100 centuries has a place in cricket, but India and the Indian cricket board need to bring home a title,” Latif added.
Since the exit of MS Dhoni, no Indian captain has managed to bring a major title to the country. The last one came in 2013 when the Men in Blue lifted their maiden ICC Champions Trophy beating hosts England in the final.
In the following competitions, the Indian side choked in the knockout stage even after pulling off a strong start.
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