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As preparations intensify for the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy 2025, former Pakistan cricketer Basit Ali has made a controversial statement on Virat Kohli’s recent struggles. As expected, Kohli retained his place in the Indian team for the grand event.
However, the main question is whether the former Indian cricket team captain can shake off his poor form and lead the batting line-up in the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy 2025 in Karachi, Pakistan on February 19. .
Buster Ali says Virat Kohli’s decision to miss England Test was a turning point for him
The reason behind the concerns is the poor performance of the right-handed batsman of late as he could only score 190 runs in nine innings at an average of 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 against Australia The score is 23.75 points. Ahead of the Australia tour, Kohli scored 192 runs and averaged 19.2 in five home Tests against Bangladesh and New Zealand.
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Virat Kohli’s place in the Indian cricket team is now under scrutiny and his performance in the upcoming three-match ODI series against England at home will also be under scrutiny due to national selection The top 36 candidates will receive telephone consultation. The future of the 2-year-old batsman after the 2025 Champions Trophy.
Amid the raging debate over India’s batting icon’s struggles and place in the team, Buster Ali shockingly blames Virat Kohli’s second child Akai for batting struggles. In fact, Kohli missed five Test matches at home against England last year due to Akaj’s birth.
Buster Ali: Virat Kohli will be a different player if he plays against England
The former Pakistan cricketer feels that had Virat Kohli played in that Test series, things would have been different as the pitch on the first two days was perfect for batting and he could have easily batted in the home conditions If he finds his magic, things won’t be so difficult for him.
Buster Ali said in a video posted on his YouTube channel: “If Virat Kohli had played the Test series against England and not missed the game due to the birth of his son, he would have been a Different players. The first two days before the breakdown started.”
Meanwhile, the former Pakistan selector also reacted to the omission of Sanju Samson and Karun Nair from the Indian squad for the upcoming ICC Test 2025. He slammed India head coach Gautam Gambhir and the selectors for not keeping their word on domestic cricket issues.
Basit Ali criticizes India’s decision to exclude Sanju Samson and Karun Nair from ICC Champions Trophy 2025 squad
Rishabh Pant and KL Rahul have been picked as wicketkeepers for the Eight-Nations tournament ahead of Sanju Samson, even though the Kerala player smashed three T20I centuries last year. On the other hand, Karun Nair’s 779 runs in the recent Vijay Hazare Trophy 2024-25 was not enough to make it to the Indian team.
Basit Ali emphasized that both Sanju Samson and Karan Nair should be included in the 2025 Champions Trophy squad while mentioning the VHT heroics of the Vidarbha captain. He concluded by saying, “Nair and Samson deserve a spot. Rohit (actually Gautam Gambhir) talked about the importance of domestic cricket. Nair has performed domestically.”
