Former Indian cricketer Sourav Ganguly has praised the batting maestro Virat Kohli as the ‘greatest white-ball player’ and ‘Once-in-a-lifetime cricketer’.
Virat Kohli has struck a century during the second innings of the Perth test but managed to score only 85 runs in the next seven innings.
With consecutive failures from Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, India suffered a humiliating 1-3 defeat in the Border Gavaskar Trophy.
“Virat Kohli is a once-in-a-lifetime cricketer. To score 81 international centuries in a career is something unbelievable. For me, he’s probably the greatest white-ball player the world has seen,” said Ganguly.
Reflecting on Kohli’s struggle after Perth’s century, Ganguly said he was also surprised to see him not build on that hundred in the remaining of the series.
“I was really surprised the way he batted after getting a 100 in Perth. He struggled before that but I thought after the 100 in Perth, it’ll be a big series for him.
“But I think it happens. Every player has his weakness and strength. You know, there’s no player in the world, who will not have that. It’s how you adapt to your weaknesses as you play great bowlers over a period of time.”
As kohli’s poor form talks looms, Ganguly expressed confidence and said he will be back to his form in the three match ODI series in England tour of India 2025 and the upcoming Champions Trophy 2025.
“He will score runs in this tournament in Indian conditions, and I still feel there’s a lot of cricket left in Virat Kohli, the tour of England will be a big challenge for him.
“I’m not too worried about his form in the Champions Trophy, because as I said, he’s probably the best white-ball player the world has seen for a long period of time.”
Ganguly further said that India would be one of the contenders in the Champions Trophy after their runner-up finish in the 2023 ODI World Cup and the T20 World Cup title triumph last year.
“I know India did not have a great series in Australia, but if you look at the last two World Cups, the T20 World Cup India won it unbeaten, and the 50-over World Cup India lost their final.
“So if you look at India’s performance in the last two World Cups, they’ve just lost one game, in almost about 20 of them. So, I think it’s a phenomenal white ball team. For me, they will be the favourites in the Champions Trophy.”
It will be interesting to see how the Indian great Kohli will turn tables and make his comeback during the home tour against England. The first match of the T20I series will begin on January 22 at Eden Gardens.
