Former star India all-rounder Yuvraj Singh hailed batting talisman Virat Kohli as the "best batter of this generation" across all formats and outlined what makes the 35-year-old unique.
At the ICC Men's ODI Cricket World Cup 2023, Kohli's career reached new heights as he set a record for most runs scored and led the run charts. Kohli, who will be featuring for the sixth time in the T20 World Cup tournament, has set his eyes on the coveted trophy.
Yuvraj said that the star batter deserves to win the World Cup medal more than anyone. After participating in the 2011 World Cup winning campaign, Yuvraj stated that Kohli deserved to win another World Cup medal.
"He has definitely broken all the records in this era. The best batter of this generation, I feel, in all formats. And I think he is also someone who needs a World Cup Medal. He has one. I'm sure he is not satisfied with one. I think he surely deserves that medal as well," Yuvraj said in a chat with ICC.
The T20 World Cup has witnessed some of Kohli's most memorable knocks, most notably two years ago at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, where he stunned over 90,000 spectators with a finish like none other against arch-rivals Pakistan.
Kohli played one of the most iconic knocks in the format, scoring 82n.o in just 53 balls, with six fours and four sixes during a tense run-chase of 160 runs when India was 31/4 at one point.
Meanwhile, in the 2016 tournament, Australia took the brunt of Kohli's stunning brilliance as he displayed his ability to chase targets down. After 161 runs were needed to be chased, Kohli played an incredible innings of 82 off 51 balls to take India semi-finals.
"I think he understands his game really well. He knows if he's there till the end, he is going to win the game for India and he has done that on some big occasions - against Australia in Mohali as well.
“Once he had the confidence to chase and knew the situation, he knew how to bat in these situations, knows which bowlers to attack, which bowlers to take singles off, when to attack again, handle the pressure and when to change his game," Yuvraj said.
Kohli's form in 2024 is not all that far from the 2014. The leading scorer in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 edition, the star batter announced his availability to play Twenty20 Internationals for India prior to the T20 World Cup. He will be the mainstay of the batting lineup once more as India looks to win the title.
Despite the quick growth of Twenty20, Kohli has not had any difficulty keeping up, amassing 542 runs this IPL 2024 at an average of 67.75 and a strike rate of 148.08.
"Why I think he was so good was because every time in nets or a practice situation, he would not go and just slog balls. In the nets, he would always bat like he was batting in a match. He put that in repetition after repetition after repetition. I have not seen that in many players. I think that is the key to his success," Yuvraj describes.
Earlier in this month, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced India's 15-player squad for the upcoming ICC Men's T20 World Cup. The Men in Blue are placed in Group A of the ICC tournament alongside arch-rivals Pakistan, Ireland, Canada and co-hosts USA.
India will begin their T20 World Cup campaign against Ireland on June 5 at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium, New York, followed by the marquee clash against Pakistan on June 9 at the same venue.
