Gulf News experts feel the beleaguered batter can’t be kept away
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00:00Hi, Satish. Hello, Mr. Gautam. Hello, Sahil. You know, we never thought that we would be discussing this topic about Virat Kohli.
00:06Whether he should be retained or whether he should be dropped. You know, there was a time we were talking about Virat Kohli scoring 100s for fun.
00:13Welcome to Straight Bad with Gulf News and Mr. Cricket UAE. That is Anish Sajan.
00:26We are here to discuss the continuing bad form of Kohli. And there have been a chorus of calls from the Indian media, in particular, for Kohli to be dropped or even for him to be stepped down.
00:41Now, with me and Anish, we have Satish, the Sports Editor of Gulf News. And we have Gautam Bhattacharya, the Senior Associate Editor.
00:52And we have Sahil Sajan as well, who is a hardcore fan. So, before we get down to it, over to Anish to take us through.
01:01Thank you, Shyam. Hi, Satish. Hello, Mr. Gautam. Hello, Sahil.
01:06You know, we never thought that we would be discussing this topic about Virat Kohli, whether he should be retained or whether he should be dropped.
01:12You know, there was a time we were talking about Virat Kohli scoring 100s for fun. Then we started talking about when is Virat Kohli going to score his next 100.
01:20Then in the IPL, we spoke about when is Virat Kohli going to get his next run after he scored three ducks.
01:26And now we are talking about Virat Kohli being dropped. Well, that's a shocker. But that's how cricket has taken a U-turn for this great cricket player of India.
01:34But I am afraid that current form, Virat Kohli for me, doesn't find a place at least in the T20 format.
01:40In the test cricket, I still feel he can come in. He needs to give a little bit of time, as well as in the ODI.
01:46But for T20, I don't find him playing in the Indian cricket team.
01:49Gautam, what are your thoughts? Do you agree with Anish there?
01:56See, it's definitely a tricky question for us. But I think the way it's going, I mean, right now, Virat has placed himself in a situation by resting out of the West Indies tour.
02:08That he doesn't have too many T20 games to prove himself. I mean, he has just won the Asia Cup.
02:13And I think once they go to Australia, they'll get some 3-4 games against Australia before the World Cup starts.
02:20So, it's a million-dollar question. But if you ask me, I think with the T20 World Cup in Australia, Virat deserves a go.
02:27But time is fast running out for him. I don't know how he's going to justify his place at this stage.
02:35Satish, T20 World Cup is just a few months away. Do you see Virat Kohli in the team?
02:43Sam, I'll probably put him as the first name. For a simple reason, I think something has been done.
02:51I have some records. I took out some records. Actually, in T20, in 2021, he played 10 games at an average of 74.74.
03:02In 2022, he has played 4 games with 20.25 as the average. I think 3-4 games of a failure, you can't drop a player like Virat Kohli.
03:11And that too, in a place like Australia, where the ball will bounce and he has done well in the past.
03:18So, if you ask me, my first name would be Virat Kohli. Of course, Rohit Sharma deserves the first name as a captain.
03:24But apart from Rohit Sharma, I would go with Kohli because he might be out of form, but he's still fit.
03:30He's really raring to go and he's not playing for his records, unlike in the past where we have seen many players continue to play for the records.
03:38Here, he is not. And at the same time, he can be such a dangerous player. With one knock, his entire game will change.
03:48Sahil, are you a hardcore Kohli fan?
03:54I wouldn't say hardcore, yeah. I like him, of course. He's a great player. But I wouldn't say hardcore, for sure.
04:02Do you see Kohli making the World Cup team?
04:06Yeah, definitely he should be in the World Cup team. Yes, he's not had the best of times in the past few months.
04:13He didn't have the best of IPLs, clearly. Clearly, he was not playing in the right position.
04:18He's not an opening batsman, what he did for ICB. I don't think he's an opening batsman at all.
04:23And unfortunately, in this England series also, he did not get going instantly.
04:27But definitely, he should be in the squad. He is one of the finest players we have seen.
04:33Yes, currently, out of form. We have to agree on that. But India needs Virat Kohli.
04:38Suppose, if India are like 5 for 2, both openers gone, then someone has to be steady out there.
04:43And that guy is Virat Kohli. You cannot depend on anyone else.
04:48Ani, is this the media and the Indian cricket team?
04:53Yeah, you said, is the Indian media and the cricket team? What is that? What was the question?
05:01Shyam?
05:02I think Shyam is having a little trouble with the connection, I think.
05:09Yeah, Shyam, can you repeat the question? We had lost you for a while.
05:13Sorry. I was just asking whether the Indian public, Indian cricket public or the Indian
05:18cricket fans and the Indian media being very hard on Kohli. Because all batsmen, all good batsmen
05:27go through these spells for a long time. I've seen, remember the case of
05:32J.R. Vishwanath, went through two seasons without a decent score. Of course, again,
05:36the Knights were out for him. We have seen Sachin Tendulkar go through the spell for
05:40quite some time. And Kapil Dev, towards the end of his career, we know how he struggled to get
05:45wickets and how India allowed him to take the required wickets to go past the milestone he
05:53was looking for. So, why are we short of patience in the case of Kohli?
06:01It's a very good question, Shyam, that in the past, a lot of cricketers like you mentioned
06:05have gone through a bad patch. But I am not sure whether we are on short of patience when it comes
06:10to Virat Kohli. Yes, Satish did point out that he had a good series against England in the T20.
06:15We had an XYZ average. There's no question about it. But we are talking about current form which
06:20has been going on from the IPL till now to what we saw in the England series. He has been found
06:26wanting, whether he is batting first or whether he is batting second. And he is finding different
06:30ways of getting out. He finds ways to get run out. He chips the ball in the air in the short leg.
06:36So, if I have to pick a player, let me take the squad of Indian team. It's not being harsh. When
06:42we talk about the captain, we cannot keep the captain out. Rohit Sharma is now made the captain
06:46because Virat Kohli himself says, I don't want to be the captain. So, the question of Rohit Sharma
06:50being left out is uncalled for unless he is injured. So, we talk about Rohit Sharma,
06:56KL Rahul, he should be definitely fit. I believe he might be even there for the West Indies.
07:00We have Surya Kumar Yadav at number 3. So, at what position do you think we can fit
07:04Virat Kohli? Sahil says that he should not be coming at open. So, what position? Then we have
07:11the likes of Pant batting at 4. Or rather, Hardik Pandya batting at 4. Rishabh Pant batting at 5.
07:18So, the only position which I believe he can come at 6. But do you think is that place feasible
07:24for him? What place are we going to get Virat Kohli? Whom are we going to drop? Are we going
07:29to drop Surya Kumar Yadav? Are we going to drop Pant? Are we going to drop Pandya? Are we going
07:33to drop Rohit? Are we going to drop Rahul? So, where do you find a space for him? For a player
07:38who has got a bad run of play for the last run of almost six months now?
07:44Satish, do you want to answer that question?
07:47Of course, I would love. Satish, Gautam and Sahil have all said that they want him to be in the
07:51ODI team. Or rather, T20 team.
07:54Yeah. Shyam, we are talking about Surya Kumar Yadav, who is about five matches old and he has
07:58got a 100 run. It's simple. Form is temporary. Class is permanent. Virat Kohli is a class player.
08:06We know that he is going through a bad form. That everybody has gone through. The best of
08:11best have gone through. So, it's something which is like, yes, there is no hiding from the fact.
08:16But as every cricketer would go, there will be one day… Virat Kohli has still not got
08:21that element of luck that will help him come out of the bad form. That you need.
08:25Oh, come on. Give me a break. Come on, Satish. We are all talking about luck.
08:30This luck factor has been going on for the last three years.
08:33See, in last three years, you are talking about only test matches. We are talking about
08:37white-ball cricket. White-ball cricket…
08:39Are you talking about the luck factor in T20? Are you talking about the luck factor in ODI?
08:42Anywhere. Anywhere.
08:44So, you mean to say, because of luck, he is not scoring runs?
08:49No. Because of his bad form, it continues because he has still not got that element of luck. You
08:54see it. There will be one game where he will have two catches dropped, a couple of edges going
09:00next to the stumps and going past the slips. These are some of the things that have happened
09:04to even the best. So, if you get that… Here, what has happened, the ball hits the
09:09wicket-keeper and falls right into Joe Root's hands. So, these are the luck that goes against
09:15you when you are out of form. But that is one sort of an inning.
09:17One sort of an inning where you are talking about the benefit of the doubt.
09:21And again, you get the best of the deliveries. You can also say that. You get the best of the
09:25deliveries when you are out of form. So, it happens…
09:27If you are the best batsman, you got to play the best of the deliveries.
09:30Yes. He is also a human being. So, he will certainly have his own failures. You got to give
09:36it to him. I have been talking about how many innings
09:38Virat Kohli now. Let's talk about Test cricket, 36 innings. ODIs, we are talking about 5 plus 14
09:46matches. Test cricket is 32 innings. I think Sachin went through without a century for 34
09:54innings. 34 or 36, something like that.
09:56Yeah. Boss, we are not talking about centuries here. We are talking about his average in the
10:01last 36 innings has been 20. No, it's wrong. It's wrong. I will tell you in Test,
10:07if you are looking at… Yes, Test, it is… See, again, we are talking different terms.
10:11Like once we have the T20 here, then the Test… T20 has got 36.87 average. 2021, 74.75.
10:25And 2022, 20.25. In one day, 47.88 in 2020. Sorry, 43 in 2021. And 21 in 2022. That is,
10:38you are talking about 8 plus 4 matches in 2022, where he is under 30.
10:43Okay. We will come back to it later. No, I want the other guys also to talk.
10:48Okay. Gautam, do you see Kohli pulling out of this trough?
10:52See, Shyam, I mean, the problem we met about Kohli was because he is Virat Kohli. Initially,
11:00for a long period of time, we lived in denial that Rohit Sharma kept on saying that, you know,
11:06why are you so bothered about him? What is the issue? The question is, as Satish pointed out,
11:13in quite a foolproof manner with the averages. I mean, if you look at these three formats,
11:17I am just breaking it down to the last 10 innings in each format. It is worst in test matches. It is
11:24not difficult to understand why. Because of the fit placements, because of his handling of the
11:29new ball, it is best in ODIs. Like Satish said. No, but I will tell you what. In ODIs, in the last
11:38test innings, in the last 10 innings, he has got five half-centuries. Wherever he hasn't got a
11:45start, he has failed. In T20s, he has got one, two, three, four, four half-centuries in the last 10
11:54innings. I am just breaking it down to 10 innings in each format because, you know, we are talking
11:58about a long phase here. So, it is not difficult for him to come out if he can just sort out
12:06that thing of, you know, why, you know, almost, he has found different ways of getting out fine.
12:12But the worst format was the way he has been set, traps have been set for him and a batsman like
12:19him has got out. Outside the off stump by pushing at the delivery, by reaching out for the delivery.
12:24If he can have a sitting with somebody like, you know, Sachin Tendulkar, who else? I believe
12:30Sachin had helped him out after the 2014 nightmare in England. If he can do that,
12:40then, you know, it will be a big gamble really to go without him to the World Cup.
12:47Because see, this T20 team on whom and the young Turks on whom we are facing a lot of,
12:53you know, keeping a lot of faith. But having said that, if you look at this squad,
12:58we still have somebody like Dinesh Karthik, who's 37, who has been there and done that as your
13:04finisher. Why is it so? I mean, does our quantity always translate into quality?
13:11That is precisely the reason why we need to have Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli in this team,
13:16so that we don't, you know, later, we don't ruminate like what happened with,
13:21you know, by dropping somebody like Yusuf Chahal in the last World Cup.
13:26For the last World Cup.
13:27Yes. So that's precisely the reason. And it's not difficult for him to come out for a man of
13:33his class. I mean, we have to give it to him. When we say three years, see, in this 2020,
13:39we have hardly five, six months, there was no international cricket. So then, you know,
13:44we are juggling with the figures and we are finding out, you know, obviously, if you don't
13:49get enough runs, averages are going to drop at the end of the day. But by missing this, you know,
13:55those five T20s in West Indies, possibly because he has to travel from West Indies to the US,
14:03I don't know if he has done the right thing, because now I find out that he's going to
14:06have a down time in the UK with his family.
14:11Let's get to Sahil. Sahil, Gautam's argument was 550s in last 10 matches. Is that enough?
14:20That's ODIs.
14:21That's ODIs. Sorry, the ODIs. And what was the figures on T20s?
14:28T20s, Shyam, four. Four out of last 10.
14:32Four out of 10. Is that good enough for you, Sahil?
14:35450s out of last 10.
14:38I mean, why don't you talk about the last four games? Sahil, go ahead.
14:43I mean, if you say like four out of 10 in the last 10 matches. I mean, yes, you see the standards
14:51this guy has set is so high. Now we are discussing about him, like how he's not performing. Maybe why
14:56we're discussing all this is because maybe he's not got a triple-digit score in a few years,
15:01like two, three years, he's not had a triple-digit score. That's why we're talking like this. Like,
15:05this guy has set the standards. He set the bar so high. That's why. But in the end, he is still
15:11a fantastic player and a great player. And there's no reason why he should not be. He's better than
15:17the rest. Other people also, like Shreyas Sir, when they get a chance, they don't prove themselves
15:22as an international cricketer. So, this guy, he has to play this World Cup no matter what.
15:27Like I said…
15:27Sahil, my dear son, on whom would you drop to get him in the T20 squad, in the playing 11?
15:34You tell me Rohit, Sharma, Rahul, Surya Kumar, Yadav, Pant, Pandya, DK and Jadeja. So,
15:40do you want to get him at number 8? Or do you want to drop Surya? Do you want to drop Pant? Do you
15:44want to drop Pandya? Do you want to drop Rohit? Do you want to drop Rahul? I want all the three.
15:48Even Sharma, I want you to answer this question. Sahil, first you answer,
15:51since you have taken on this topic.
15:53He is an automatic player who comes at number 3 or 4. Like between him and Surya Kumar Yadav,
15:58who comes at 3 or 4.
15:59So, you are saying that he comes in for Surya Kumar Yadav?
16:03No. Instead, I mean, I don't think… You cannot play Dinesh Karthik and Isha Pant in one team.
16:08So, Virat Kohli might come at a number 3 or number 4 player.
16:11You cannot play Dinesh Karthik and Pant. Okay. Makes sense. Sharm, why don't you get this answer?
16:17I will fully back Sahil on that. I would want Kohli to come in at number 3
16:22and drop either Surya Kumar or DK.
16:27That's right. Surya Kumar is undroppable, actually. Even he has to play.
16:34If you have to pick between Surya Kumar and Virat Kohli, who would you pick, Sahil?
16:37You just mentioned Surya Kumar is undroppable. If you had to pick between Surya Kumar and
16:49Virat Kohli, who would you pick?
16:51This current time, I would pick Surya Kumar Yadav as a T20 batsman.
16:54Yeah. So, stick to it. So, stick to it.
16:58Now, Satish?
17:00I will certainly pick Kohli any day. I told you, my first name would be Kohli. Because
17:05he has a proven record and he is a match-winner. You can't drop a match without…
17:08And what number does he bat?
17:10He will bat number 3, Anisbhai. He can bat number 3 or even, I would say, possibly,
17:16he can even go opening because the ball will come bouncing like in the Australian crickets,
17:22with the high bounce. He will be able to play those lofted drives quite easily.
17:26I think he should be there in the top 1, 2, 3, one of the places he should bat.
17:31And you can have your… As you said, if Surya Kumar is in good form,
17:35yes, keep him maybe number 4. And you can have Pandya and Pant following,
17:41so that the batting depth goes further down. And of course, as Sai said, when you have Pant,
17:46we don't need a wicket-keeper, DK. And sadly, DK, for whatever the promise he has shown in the IPL,
17:53it has not translated for India in the last few matches he has played. And that is sadly,
17:59that's a truth. So, if you are talking about form of Kohli, we have to also talk about the
18:04form of Dinesh Karthik. That's like a true Virat Kohli fan.
18:10No, I am perfectly looking at statistics. I am a good cricket fan.
18:18Just one interruption here, Satish. Since Anis has raised the question of where do we want to
18:24see Virat to bat, see, what about the opening partner of Rohit? I mean, alternating between
18:31Ishan Kishan and obviously, you know, you can't have Ishan again there. We are talking about Rahul
18:38without knowing fully well, I mean, whether he is fit enough to go to the West Indies tour
18:42or not. So, have we thought about that option for Kohli? I mean, where he kind of acts as a foil to
18:49Rohit Sharma. And these two, you know, there will be kind of the Warner-Finch combination
18:56at their best. I mean, not a left-right thing. But can't we think about him as an opener?
19:01Of course. That's what I said. Sorry, Anis bhai.
19:05Yeah, go ahead. Go ahead, Satish.
19:07Yeah, because that's what I said. With a new ball and bouncy Australian wickets,
19:11he can be used as an opener also. Like 1-2-3 is the place where Kohli has to bat.
19:16Okay. Anis bhai, sorry. You go ahead.
19:18So, now you are talking about, Gautam, KL Rahul, maybe not fit for the West Indies tour. But we
19:24still have the Asia Cup. And then we might have a few matches. So, KL Rahul, according to you,
19:30if he is not injury-prone, you have him in your squad or no, Gautam? That's my question to you.
19:35No, no. Absolutely. Absolutely. I mean, after the game, don't drop it.
19:41Yeah. So, KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma are there as your openers or probably Virat Kohli as your
19:47opener? See, Anis bhai, again, the problem is KL's record, while setting a target vis-a-vis
19:54chasing a target, there is a difference between the two. I mean, KL is such a gem to watch
19:59when possibly they are batting first. I mean, KL's batting was...
20:03Absolutely. Absolutely.
20:04Yeah. So, I think you yourself had written about it. So, I mean...
20:08Absolutely right.
20:09We are looking at a kind of window to make room for who is still your best batsman, quote-unquote.
20:20Okay.
20:21That brings me to the question. Is Kohli a victim of his own success? He's had such an extended run,
20:27we can't even accept any failure from him. I would like each of you to answer the question.
20:32Anis, you start that.
20:34Shyam, you quoted it very well that he is a victim of his own failure. But that's how,
20:39you know, when expectations make you demand more. And when you have set a platform,
20:45you want the player to score more and more. Now, when you say that because you expect more from him,
20:52his record, unfortunately, it's a combination of three, whether it is T20, Test cricket and ODI,
20:59where he's gone through a rut and the numbers don't show which is good enough,
21:03then the players who are in current form. So, my point of not having Virat Kohli in the squad of
21:08T20 is for only reason is that I don't feel like leaving out Rahul, Surya Kumar,
21:16a Pant, a Pandya or a DK. Yes, I might have a debate about Pant. Not just because he scored
21:21yesterday. Pant's first knock in white ball cricket came after ages yesterday. So, whether
21:26I will have Pant or DK, that's a debatable question. But then there is Ishan Kishan.
21:30And today's T20 cricket wants you to have that bang-bang cricket. So, if you are only taking
21:34Virat Kohli as a chase master, then it's a call that you are going to chase. But how many times
21:41if you are not going to win the toss, Virat Kohli is not a player who can set a target. That's my
21:46way of looking at it. Sahil, what do you say, Sahil?
21:50I mean, see, the game, like how I mentioned earlier, the game has changed. How the English
21:58cricketers like Roy Bestrow, they have changed the game so much. In the start, in the first six
22:04overs, you should not be happy with a score of 45-50. You should target a 60-plus score always
22:10in the power play. I know sometimes the wicket is different. But this is how the game has changed in
22:16this format of T20 cricket. So, yeah, Virat Kohli is not the guy who sets a target. He is a chase
22:22master. But you don't send a guy like Virat Kohli opening. No. In T20 cricket, I definitely will
22:29never agree to send him opening. He is a guy who comes at number 3, number 4. Suppose if
22:33now both the openers have gone early. Then he comes in and he has to play out those tough
22:39overs. Currently, he has not been able to do that for a while. But I am sure he is one of the
22:44finest players. He will be back for sure. And yeah, that's all I have to say.
22:50I will put a question to you as well, Sadesh. Is Virat Kohli a victim of his own success?
22:57Certainly, Shyam. Absolutely. And again, this is bound to happen not just to Virat Kohli. If you
23:02look at every international cricketer, whether it be Steve Smith or whether it be Joe Root,
23:06with the amount of technology, their pluses, the positives, the minuses, everything is
23:11threadbare analyzed. They will keep bowling at the areas where you are not at the best of
23:17your capabilities. But these are players who will circumvent that. They will find ways to come out
23:23of it. Yes, Virat Kohli has gone through probably the first slide in his career in 11 years, which
23:29is a phenomenal career and phenomenal record. But now, knowing Virat Kohli, the way he has
23:36performed, the hard yards he has put in, I am sure he will come out of it. And I am very
23:41confident that it will happen. And he is certainly a victim of his own success because the amount of
23:46runs he has scored has given them so many yardages of videos where they can analyze his pros and
23:52they can analyze his weaknesses and everything. Gautam, what's your response to this?
23:59Yes, in a word, definitely a victim of his own circumstances, of his own success. Because from
24:052014 to 2019, this man hasn't put a foot wrong. I mean, he has scored something like nearly
24:125000 runs in international cricket, which included an obscene total of 900 plus in 2016 in the IPL.
24:20So definitely, the benchmark has been set so, so high that there is a problem. What he possibly
24:26needs to do is, he should at one point of time, that anxiety to show that I am
24:33Virat Kohli, I am still capable of launching into that fluent cover drive, he should
24:40cut down on those and play for himself. If you want to get back into the groove.
24:45And there is no magic recipe here. But at the same time, again, as the first point I also tried to
24:51make, I mean, if you keep cutting down on your matches when you're not in form, I don't know
24:55if this is going to help or how magically it's going to come back. Okay, before we wind up,
25:01any final thoughts? I'll start with you.
25:03Shyam, I'm glad Gautam hit the nail that he's already missing out on this five matches that
25:09probably with Ravi Shastri and the Nehra, that says that he's played enough cricket.
25:14So now my question to all four of you, especially Satish and Sahil, who have been pro-Virat.
25:21All of us have been pro-Virat except me in this show. I don't know for what reason.
25:26Now we are talking about Asia Cup. He's taken a break from the West Indies Tour. So we don't
25:30know whether he's going to score runs. He's not going to score runs because he's not going to
25:32play. Asia Cup, we get to play four or five matches. Satish, my question to you first,
25:37and obviously everybody answers. If he fails to perform in that series and he has the same rut
25:42which he's had in the England series, do you still pick him up? If yes, why? And if no, why?
25:47Yes, that's what I said. The form might be temporary. Class is permanent.
25:52You will pick him irrespective if he performs single-digit scores in the four or five matches.
25:57Yes, because in the World Cup, if you look at, suddenly Rohit Sharma in the last 2019 World Cup,
26:02one knock, Rohit Sharma got the 100. He went on to score 400s. So these are the players who
26:07find their nick, then they will make it count. So, you have to take that gamble, I would say.
26:16All of you guys, go ahead.
26:17Okay. Gautam?
26:21Yeah, well, see, the thing is, on UAE wickets, now that the cat is out of the bag, I mean,
26:27two 50s from…
26:29No, Gautam, I have to say, still, apparently, it's still not decided yet.
26:33Okay, but anyway, UAE or Sri Lanka?
26:35UAE or Sri Lanka. I mean, all you need from him in that format, in that format of four to five
26:42matches, yes, there will be, I believe there will be two high-pressure games against Pakistan.
26:48Yeah, now, two 50s. Two 50s is what it takes to put him onto that flight and, you know,
26:54to stop the talk for a while. See, he has performed in fits and starts. That's another thing.
27:00It's such a long period under consideration. And the benchmark that he has set, it is wearing thin.
27:08But that's all it will take for him to, you know, to stop the talk for a while
27:12and send him over to Australia.
27:14So, Shyam, before I come to you, two 50s at a strike rate of 100, 110 or you're
27:18two 50s at a strike rate of 135, 140? I mean, there are ways of getting two 50s.
27:24You're asking me?
27:26No, I'm asking Gautam.
27:29No, see, you cannot suddenly expect him to hit that, you know, 140, 145 plus strike rate like
27:34Ishan Kishan or Surya Kumar Jadhav. That's why the position that he is coming to bat in is so
27:39important. And we have also tried to address that issue. I mean, whether it's an opener,
27:43whether it's a No. 4, because I think in T20 format, Surya Kumar, you can't look beyond
27:50Surya Sky as your No. 3. So, I think for Virat, it's got to be a No. 4. And depending on the
27:57situation of the match, he has to pick up his tempo. Yeah, but obviously, you know,
28:04the strike rate that you're saying, it's not going to dramatically, with the way, with the
28:08template that he has about his batting, it can't go up to, it can't be matching a
28:13month or a sky anymore. Those days are gone. It will hover around 110, you know, maybe 120.
28:19So, you're good enough with 110 strike rate. That's what you're trying to say.
28:23Yes, yes. Because others should rally around him.
28:29Others should rally around him. Let's not forget it. Yeah.
28:33Okay. Shyam?
28:35Yeah, I would definitely, like I go with Satish's argument that he should be the first one on my
28:43list to go to Australia for that matter. Simply because if I have to pick two players who will
28:48go to Australia, it will be Rohit and Virat. Without any doubt, they will be the first two
28:56in my list. Simply because we have seen these guys over a period of time and we know what they
29:01can do. So, form, like Satish says, form is temporary. Class is permanent. So, I fully
29:09believe in him. He still has it in him to deliver. So, I would pick him up ahead of most people.
29:17Sahil? He doesn't perform in Asia Cup?
29:21No. I mean, yeah, I'd still send him to the World Cup. I mean, if he doesn't perform,
29:27yeah, there will be a lot of talk. But he still will go to the World Cup as the selectors will
29:32vouch for him. Because he's also a senior figure. And as Rohit Sharma is a senior figure,
29:37Virat Kohli, they will also need an extra senior figure in the team. And he will not
29:41play just because of that. I mean, definitely in Australia, we can see he might like it.
29:46And I can see him do well in the Asia Cup if he plays.
29:51And just to answer one question, Anish Bhai, sorry. Virat, maybe the first 50,
29:56he might be around 110. But the second 50, if he scores, I'm sure he'll go back to his 150,
30:01160, 170 strike rate. Because that confidence will come back. Virat,
30:05you can't keep him and he can't play slow.
30:09So, jury, I rest my case here. I have Satish, I have Gautam, I have Shyam, I have my own son
30:14Sahil. They all say form is temporary, class is permanent. But I have nothing to say.
30:21One thing I can say, he will definitely go in the first class to Australia.
30:26Thank you. Thank you. Thank you very much for joining us.
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