Asia Cup 2022 is witnessing the return of Virat Kohli from a month-long break. He took some time off from the field after the conclusion of the England tour. As the cricketer had admitted, he completely disconnected himself from the game and didn’t even touch his bat for a month. He arrived in the UAE with an aim to start afresh and rediscover his lost batting mojo. He began the campaign decently against Pakistan, scoring 35 runs off 34 deliveries. He lifted his game in the next encounter against Hong Kong with an unbeaten 41-ball 59.
And now, he is set to face Pakistan once again in the ongoing tournament. The two teams will meet in the second game of the Super 4 round and all eyes will be on the 34-year-old ace batter when he walks out to bat in Dubai.
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Though many experts weren’t satisfied with the way Kohli batted in the past two games. However, Mohammad Kaif believes that the former Indian skipper has made a good comeback.
“He’s played well so far. It’s been a really good comeback, something to be happy about. You see, when Virat Kohli wasn’t scoring runs, people’s prayers were with him… People were worried but no one said, ‘Virat Kohli is finished.’
“Everyone believed he was a class batter. Yes, his form wasn’t clicking for a long time, but he never looked out of rhythm. Even when he played the IPL, I remember he scored 72 not out against Gujarat Titans, even hit a six against Rashid Khan, he was in rhythm there as well,” Kaif told Sportskeeda in an interview.
The cricketer-turned-commentator further mentioned that there are times when the gap between two knocks gets longer. However, Kohli is heading back at his attacking best and has even found new shots to break the shackles of poor form.
“Sometimes it happens that there’s a long phase where there are no big knocks but these two innings — got nicely set against Pakistan, got through the phase where their fast-bowlers were bowling well, and in the last match, he batted very attacking, hit sixes as well.
“One shot was against leg-spinner, cross-batted, over mid-wicket — he doesn’t hit that shot often. This is a new shot he’s discovered, across the line and over mid-wicket, he doesn’t use that a lot. It’s visible that his form is returning, and the feel-good factor is back,” he added.
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