T20 World Cup 2022: "Kane Williamson cannot bat at Virat Kohli's strike rate" - Gautam Gambhir on former skipper's importance to India

Gautam Gambhir has highlighted Virat Kohli's importance to India and pointed out that the likes of Kane Williamson, Steve Smith, Joe Root and Babar Azam cannot bat like him.

Kohli scored an unbeaten 64 off 44 balls as the Men in Blue set a 185-run target for Bangladesh in their T20 World Cup 2022 Group 2 Super 12 clash in Adelaide on Wednesday, November 2. They went on to win the match by five runs via the DLS method after Shakib Al Hasan and Co. were set a revised target of 151 runs in 16 overs due to a rain interruption.

During a discussion on Star Sports, Gambhir was asked about his views on Kohli's knock. He responded:

"There used to be a Fab Four at one point. Kane Williamson cannot bat at Virat Kohli's strike rate, Steve Smith is not even in the playing XI, Joe Root is not even part of the squad."

The former India opener pointed out that a team needs different styles of batters to be successful. He elaborated:

So imagine Virat Kohli, who does not have that power game, despite that if he can bat a strike rate of 130-140, what can be better than that? You have Suryakumar Yadav at No. 4 and Hardik Pandya at No. 5. A good recipe is one that has all types of ingredients.

Gambhir added that Kohli performs multiple roles in India's batting lineup. He explained:

"If you keep only one type of players from top to bottom, you can get bowled out for 40 or 50. Apart from being an anchor, Virat Kohli has the role of an aggressor in the last 10 overs in this batting lineup. Virat Kohli is more than an anchor."

Kohli has a career strike rate of 138.45 in T20I cricket. He has also been extremely consistent, with his 3932 runs in 113 games coming at an excellent average of 53.13.

---

"Once Suryakumar Yadav got out, he became the main hero" - Gautam Gambhir on Virat Kohli

Virat Kohli struck eight fours and a six during his innings.

Gambhir lauded Kohli for pacing his innings brilliantly against Bangladesh. He elaborated:

"In the first 10 overs, if India loses an early wicket, like they did today, he built a partnership - first played second fiddle to KL Rahul and then to Suryakumar Yadav but once Suryakumar Yadav got out, he became the main hero."

The cricketer-turned-commentator concluded by pointing out an area where Kohli scores over the other contemporary batting greats. He said:

"You can do this only if you have the ability. Very few players have the ability to be the anchor and aggressor. Kane Williamson, Steve Smith, Joe Root and Babar Azam don't have that ability."

Kohli was chosen as the Player of the Match for his enterprising knock. He also became the highest run-getter in T20 World Cups during his innings.