T20 World Cup 2021: "The old Kohli turned up to bat yesterday" - Deep Dasgupta feels the Indian skipper has found form

Former India wicket-keeper Deep Dasgupta noted that the sole positive for India against Pakistan came in the form of Virat Kohli's batting. The Indian skipper scored a fifty after walking out with his team in a precarious position and steered the team to a respective total, albeit in a losing cause.

Kohli's form has taken a huge hit over the course of the last two years. He looked in good rhythm during the latter stages of the England tour but followed it up with a poor second leg IPL campaign in challenging conditions. Dasgupta opined that it was the old Virat Kohli who came out to bat and anchor the innings.

While speaking on his YouTube channel, Dasgupta said:

"Virat Kohli played a good innings. To be honest, the biggest positive that came out of the game for India, is that Kohli looked in form. The Old Kohli, the one we are familiar with, turned up to bat."

Kohli holds a special bond with the T20 World Cup, having won back-to-back player of the tournament awards for his exploits in the previous two editions. He also has a good record against Pakistan at this stage and was dismissed for the very first time after staging three unbeaten knocks over India's arch-rivals.

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India have been handed a reality check with this defeat: Dasgupta

Dasgupta believes that The Men In Blue have been handed a reality check with a defeat against Pakistan in their opening contest of the 2021 T20 World Cup. But, he feels that there is no need to panic just yet and they should use the week long break to reflect and improve for the all-important contest against New Zealand.

Dasgupta added:

"This was just the first match, I know Pakistan are difect competitors when it comes to qualifying, but in the bigger scheme of things, it's not a complete negative because India have been handed a reality check with this loss. They have to look where they are, where other teams are and what else needs to improve. There is a big game coming up against New Zealand on the 31st, so India have a lengthy break."

With only two teams qualifying for the semi-finals out of each Super 12s group, the contest between India and New Zealand holds stakes aplenty for the teams involved.