“Said It Would Be Difficult…”: Former Pakistan Star’s U-Turn On Virat Kohli’s Return

Touted as the greatest batsman of his generation, Virat Kohli had a rough patch with the bat for the majority of 2022. The 34-year-old hadn’t scored an international century in almost three years. The former India captain also had low returns with the bat during last season’s Indian Premier League. Amid his struggles with the bat, former Pakistan pacer Mohammad Asif suggested that once Kohli loses his magic touch, it will be difficult for him to regain his form.

However, Kohli ended his century drought with a 61-ball 122 against Afghanistan during the Asia Cup last season. It was his 71st century in international cricket and his first in the shortest format of the game.

Kohli continued his form in the T20 World Cup, ending the tournament as the top scorer.

Since then, Kohli has scored three more tons – all coming in ODIs.

Asif, however, has now done a U-turn on his statement on Kohli, insisting that he feels it will be ‘difficult’ for the player to return to form, but ‘not impossible’.

“I said it would be difficult, but not impossible. For a lower-handed player, at 31 or 32, it is difficult to make a strong comeback. Upper-handed players are a bit more fluent, even if they have a bad patch. , they can recover. Players like Sachin (Tendulkar), Babar (Azam) find it easier to make comebacks because of this. Kohli is my favorite player and I really enjoy his batting,” Asif on Salman. Said butt’s youtube channel.

As for Asif, he was one of three players suspended for spot-fixing in 2011, along with then-captain Butt and fellow fast bowler Mohammad Amir.

He was given a seven-year ban in 2011 for his role in the spot-fixing scandal during Pakistan’s tour of England.

The 40-year-old was also sentenced to one year in jail and has already served half of the term. In 2015, the ICC relaxed their previous suspensions and allowed all three players to return to all forms of the game.

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