Virat Kohli
hit the first hundred of
IPL 2024
on Saturday; and even though his 8th IPL century did not result in a win for
Royal Challengers Bengaluru
(RCB), the knock rallied support for the batting legend after reports last month that voices in the
BCCI
corridors are questioning whether Kohli should be picked in the
T20 World Cup
squad.
The showwpiece ICC event will be co-hosted by the USA and West Indies from June 2 to 29 this year.
Kohli's 72-ball 113 not out, which included 12 fours and 4 sixes, came in a losing cause against Rajasthan Royals, who rode on Jos Buttler's 100 not out in 58 balls to overhaul RCB's 183 for 3 in 19.1 overs for a six-wicket win in Jaipur.
Kohli's hundred came in 67 balls, which is the joint slowest IPL hundred. It also led to a few criticising the former India captain for batting slow. However, the batting icon got support from across the border, as Pakistan batsman
Ahmad Shahzad
shared a post on 'X', urging BCCI to "think wisely" when it comes to discussing Kohli's T20 World Cup selection.
"And you are thinking Virat Kohli is done. Think wisely @BCCI," Shahzad tweeted after the RCB innings.
The century further cemented Kohli's spot at the top of this IPL edition's top run-getters, with 316 runs in five matches at a strike rate of 146.29, including one hundred and two fifties.
After a report by 'The Telegraph' about Kohli's possible omission from India's T20 World Cup squad spread like wildfire last month, a social media post by former India allrounder Kirti Azad slammed all those claims as the 1983 World Cup winner stated that captain Rohit Sharma has told BCCI secretary Jay Shah that the team needs Kohli "at any cost".
The report about Kohli's exclusion was based on sources telling The Telegraph that the BCCI selectors believe Kohli hasn't been at his best in the T20 format.
Reacting to that in a post on 'X', Azad wrote that BCCI's chief selector and former India pacer Ajit Agarkar was "given time till 15th March", but "if sources are to be believed, Ajit Agarkar was neither able to convince himself nor the other selectors."
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The former India allrounder added that Rohit has given his opinion to Shah in no uncertain terms and wants Kohli in the squad.
"Jay Shah asked Rohit Sharma too but Rohit said we need Virat Kohli at any cost. Virat Kohli will play the T20 World Cup and its official announcement will be made before the team selection," Azad wrote.
Kohli took a break from the five-Test home series against England for the birth of his second child and returned to action in the IPL.
The BCCI is expected to announce India's T20 World Cp squad by the end of April.
English (US) ·