Heaping high praise on Virat Kohli, former Pakistan captain Rashid Latif has said the India batting superstar has plenty of fans in his country. Kohli is widely regarded as one of the finest batters of the modern-era who has excelled in all three formats of the game.
“Virat has a lot of fans in Pakistan and also the players playing are his fans,” Latif told news agency PTI. “Like I also say this whenever Sachin (Tendulkar) used to play earlier, I never wanted him to get out. The world was paying to watch him bat but I was sitting behind the stumps and enjoying it for free.”
Kohli finished the IPL 2024 as the leading run-getter – 741 from 15 matches – with his strike-rate of 154.69 being particularly impressive.
“Virat Kohli is a different player…Virat is a different player after this IPL,” Latif said.
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The former wicketkeeper-batter feels that Pakistan captain Babar Azam has a along way to go as far as handling the pressure of an India-Pakistan contest is concerned and that he needs to learn how to control the game from Rohit Sharma and Kohli.
“…the focus is on the game on June 9 against India. Babar (Pakistan captain) will be under a lot of pressure because of the game against India rather than performing in the World Cup,” Latif said.
“But he has to learn to carry pressure, he should learn that from Virat and Rohit. They know how to carry the game. As a batter Babar is one of the best but as a captain and leader, there’s a lot that he needs to learn,” he added.
India and Pakistan will be squaring off on June 9 in New York in a Group A clash of the 2024 T20 World Cup.
The 55-year-old Latif feels that left-arm spinner Kuldeep Yadav will be the key to India’s chances.
“Kuldeep Yadav is that one player who if remains fit for India throughout the World Cup, he can cause trouble for batters. He is India’s key bowler and also a key to success. Given the current form and stats definitely India has an advantage ahead of June 9,” he said.
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