“Never said this” - Adam Gilchrist responds to fake quote on Virat Kohli attributed to him

Former Australian wicketkeeper-batter Adam Gilchrist has responded to a fake quote on Virat Kohli being attributed to him. He shared a post by an X user, which claimed Gilchrist as saying that Kohli is being rested frequently so that he cannot break Sachin Tendulkar’s record.

Kohli, along with Rohit Sharma, Hardik Pandya, and Kuldeep Yadav, has been rested for the first two ODIs of the three-match series against Australia, which begins on Friday. There have been some harsh reactions to the decision to rest seniors Indian players considering that the fact that this is the last series for them before the World Cup in India.

A quote attributed to Gilchrist over Kohli being rested has been doing the rounds on social media and reads as follows:

"Kohli is being rested on regular basis these days, I think they want Sachin's record to be unbeaten" - Adam Gilchrist.”

Sharing the fake quote on his X [formerly Twitter] handle, the Australian legend issued a clarification and wrote:

“Never said this.”

Kohli scored 122* off 94 balls in the Asia Cup 2023 Super 4 clash against arch-rivals Pakistan in Colombo. His knock featured nine fours and three sixes.

Kohli was involved in an unbroken 233-run stand for the third wicket with KL Rahul (111* off 106) as India posted 356/2 and went on to win the game by 228 runs.

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Adam Gilchrist picks his potential semifinalists for World Cup 2023

Gilchrist reckons that hosts India, defending champions England, Pakistan and Australia are favorites to reach the semi-finals of the ICC ODI World Cup 2023.

The Men in Blue won the World Cup when it was held in India last time in 2011, while Pakistan lifted the trophy in 1992. Australia are the most successful side in the competition, having won the title five times - 1987, 1999, 2003, 2007 and 2015.

Speaking at a promotional event in Ahmedabad recently, the former stumper commented:

"I think India and Pakistan could feature, Australia and England are another two teams."

The 51-year-old also backed Australia to do well in the ODI series in India despite their recent loss in South Africa.

"Australia will learn a lot from their efforts in South Africa when they come to India. They have got three games before the World Cup against India. So, they will have a bit more of a full-strength squad there. That might tell us a bit about where they are at,” he added.

The India-Australia series begins with the first ODI in Mohali on Friday.