One of the greatest batsman in World’s Cricket, Sunil Gavaskar, gave a strange reply when he was asked about Virat Kohli’s comeback in the IPL.
Since Kohli is currently absent from the Indian Cricket during the ongoing IND-ENG Test series due to the birth of his new child. These gave large questions regarding his comeback in international cricket.
Recently during an interaction with the students of Indian Institute of Management in Ranchi in Star Sports, when Gavaskar was asked did Virat Kohli will show the hunger of runs in the upcoming Indian Premier League, to this he replied,
“Kya woh khelenge... kuch reason ke liye khel nahin rahe hain, shaayad ho sakta hai ke IPL ke liye bhi na khele (Will he play... He is not playing because of some reason, perhaps he may not play in the IPL as well).”
Virat is playing for RCB in the Indian Premier League and is the only batter who played for the same franchise from the starting till now. In 2024 IPL, RCB will play 5 matches (22nd March: CSK, 25th March: PBKS, 29th March: KKR, 2nd April: LSG, 6th April: RR) only, as only a partial schedule has been announced. The remaining schedule will be announced once the final dates of the general elections are revealed.
Gavaskar did not end here, he further added that the 4th test match hero, Dhruv Jurel, who was awarded the Player of the Match, could be the next superstar in the World’s best T20 league. He plays for Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the Indian franchise.
“He could be promoted up the order. Jurel could be the superstar after this performance in the Test matches.”
Also he added that Akash Deep will be a good asset in the death overs for RCB,
“Akash Deep could get more exposure in RCB and play the role of the death over specialist which they were missing last season.”
Regarding Rishabh Pant he said,
“I’m also a big fan of him. For me the most important thing is that he should be healthy like before, so that he can come and entertain us. It will be very difficult for him and it will take some time for him to get that batting fluency. But it's good that he has started training. Knee plays a pivotal role in batting as well as keeping, which of course he may not do initially. Maybe he won't be the usual Rishabh Pant that we are used to seeing. Let's stay hopeful. This season is the first of him coming back to full fitness. Let's not rush him into doing something that will be a setback.”