BCCI President Sourav Ganguly Said struggling batting maestro on Friday Virat Kohli There is a need to score runs not only for India but also “for myself”. Kohli will resume his quest to score his first international century since 2019 after failing in all his previous attempts in the Asia Cup, starting Saturday in the UAE. “He needs to score runs not only for India but for himself. Hopefully it will be a good season for him. We all believe he will come back,” Ganguly said during an interaction.
Kohli’s last international century came during the pink ball Test against Bangladesh at the Eden Gardens in 2019.
“I am sure as we are all waiting for him to score a century, he is working towards it as well,” Ganguly said.
He said, ‘The chances of scoring a century in T20 are less because of the timing. But hopefully it will be a big season for Kohli.
The 33-year-old former India captain, who was last seen in action in England in June-July, is back after a month-long break in which he skipped two white-ball series in West Indies and Zimbabwe.
Kohli’s highest score in his last five matches has been 20 in India’s loss to England in the rescheduled fifth Test at Birmingham.
After relinquishing the captaincy at Royal Challengers Bangalore as well, Kohli kept IPL 2022 calm, scoring 341 runs in 16 matches at an average of 22.73.
Ganguly, while interacting with the media on the sidelines of the DG Gold promotional event of Senco Gold and Diamonds, refused to agree that a big player like Kohli can tolerate a lean patch by then.
“He’s a huge player, has been there for a long time. I know he has his own formula for scoring runs. It’s not possible that players of his stature don’t have such a long lean patch, I know he Will definitely score runs.
“If he had not been a great player, he would not have scored so many runs for so long,” Ganguly said.
Defending champions India will begin their campaign in Dubai against arch-rivals Pakistan, almost a year after they lost to them at the same venue in the T20 World Cup.
Ganguly said the T20 World Cup loss will have little bearing on the outcome of the upcoming matches.
Ganguly said, “I have been watching Indo-Pak matches closely since 1992. In these 30 years we have lost only once. It’s not magic that you will always win. You lose once or twice, it’s not a big deal,” Ganguly said. It doesn’t matter.”
Asked about the pressure of playing Pakistan, he said: “Those who play regular cricket like my playing days, it’s just another game where you have to perform. I’ve never heard of ‘Pakistan, Pakistan’. Didn’t think. Maybe a World Cup semi-final, a qualifier match during this, there were feelings like that.
“If you keep all these things in mind, I know Rohit (Sharma), KL RahulVirat, (Rishabh) Pant knows how to handle pressure.”
When asked whether Pakistan will miss its star pacer? Shaheen AfridiGanguly said: “I don’t think one player makes a difference in any team. We don’t even have (Jasprit) Bumrah.”
Ganguly added Hardik PandyaIndia has benefited a lot from the return of India after the IPL.
“Absolutely… he is a great addition to the team as well as his bowling. Last year he was not fit to bowl, now he has gone back to bowling. So he is a big addition. “
When asked about the top contenders to win the Asia Cup, he said, “There is no team favourite in the T20 format. Did anyone think of Gujarat winning the IPL. It’s a different format altogether. You have it.” There is little time to recover.”
Ganguly’s term as BCCI president is set to end in September, and a Supreme Court bench headed by Justice DY Chandrachud will decide on the board’s plea for amendment of the “cooling-off” period after a six-year term. He had worked in the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) before becoming the BCCI President.
It’s not in my hands. I don’t know, whatever is asked will be asked. we will see.
Moving to football, Ganguly said that he is happy to see former players Bhaichung Bhutia and Kalyan Choubey fighting for the post of president in the upcoming All India Football Federation (AIFF) elections.
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Ganguly concluded, “It is always good when you have players in the administration. It should be because they have better knowledge of the game. It is great that Kalyan Choubey and Bhaichung Bhutia are fighting for the AIFF top post. “
The AIFF elections are to be held on September 2.
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