Don’t worry about him: Morne Morkel backs out-of-form Virat Kohli

New Delhi,UPDATED: Jun 20, 2024 06:28 IST

Former South Africa pacer Morne Morkel said that it’s only a matter of time when Virat Kohli returns to his very best. The 35-year-old Kohli hasn’t had the best of times in T20 World Cup 2024 in the West Indies and United States of America (USA). Kohli has scored only 5 runs from 3 innings at an average of 1.66 and a strike-rate of 55.55.

Being the all-time top run-scorer in the history of the mega event, Kohli did not find batting easy in New York. But Morkel showed faith in the former Indian skipper, saying that a player of Kohli’s class and calibre finds a way to strike form in crunch matches. Kohli will be looking to make amends when India and Afghanistan face each other in the Super 8 match on Thursday, June 20 at the Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados.

“Don’t worry about Virat. Class players find a way to score runs at the right time. If I was a bowler, I would be nervous to bowl to him upfront. He is a guy who can rotate the strike, put your good balls away from a four. I am excited to see how he goes. He always finds an answer and I just love watching him play,” Morkel told Star Sports.

T20 World Cup Coverage | Points Table | T20 World Cup 2024 Schedule | Player Stats

Virat Kohli’s impressive record vs Afghanistan

Although Kohli has struggled for runs of late, he has happy memories of playing against Afghanistan. In 5 T20Is against them, he has racked up 201 runs at an average of 67. Back in September 2022, Kohli scored an unbeaten 122 against them in the Asia Cup match at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. Back in 2012, Kohli also notched a fifty against them.

As far as India are concerned, they will go into their Super 8 matches after staying unbeaten in the group stage. They beat Ireland, Pakistan and the USA before their game against Canada was called off.