‘There’re many guys who have leapfrogged him’ – Dale Steyn raises concerns over Virat Kohli’s T20 WC spot

Virat Kohli (Photo Source – Twitter/X)

Virat Kohli has been out of action for quite a long time now. The star batter last appeared for India against Afghanistan in January. Since then, he was supposed to feature in the Test series against England, albeit for a few games. But he decided to stay away from the 22-yard strip owing to family reasons, which was later understood as he was expecting his second child.

Amidst his absence, speculations are rife that the white-ball maverick could be put on hold for India’s T20 World Cup aspirations. It is worth noting that, Kohli played his first T20I after a gap of over two years in January against Afghanistan. Among the speculations of his potential exclusion, the former South African pacer has stressed that a lot of youngsters have overtaken him concerning a spot in the T20I squad.

“I think, look, it’s very important that he scores runs because it will put him in a good frame going to the World Cup. There’re many guys who have leapfrogged him recently because he’s taken a bit of a break and there’re many contenders that are possible to take to that World Cup (squad),” Steyn said as quoted by NDTV Sports.

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“I look at runs the same way that you look at someone’s bank balance, so to speak. Virat has got stacks and stacks of runs that he stored up over many years. It is going to work when India is looking to pick a team that goes to the World Cup. They’re going to look for guys who have been there and done that and that’s something Virat has done,” he added.

Kohli arrives in India ahead of IPL 2024

Meanwhile, Kohli was spotted in London spending time with his family. The 35-year-old had not made any public appearance since his sabbatical from cricket in January. He arrived in India on March 17 ahead of IPL 2024 and is expected to join the Royal Challengers Bangalore squad. RCB will take on their sporting rivals Chennai Super Kings in the season opener on March 22 at MA Chidambaram Stadium.

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