'His form should be observed': Gavaskar not in favour of ruling out Kohli from India's T20 WC plans

Ever since India were eliminated from the T20 World Cup 2022, in the semi-finals, the likes of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, etc. have not featured in India's T20I scheme of things with Hardik Pandya serving as the captain. Many believe it is the end of the road for Kohli and Rohit in the shortest format with a plethora of young Indian batters showcasing their skills in the IPL.

Nonetheless, nothing official has come out from the BCCI selectors on Kohli and Rohit's T20I future. Recently, Little Master Sunil Gavaskar was asked about Kohli's T20I future and the veteran believes his form in IPL 2024 'should be observed' before taking a call on his selection.

Gavaskar told Sports Tak: "The next T20 World Cup will be played in 2024. There will be another IPL before that in March-April. He asserted, "Kohli's form should be observed at that point. There is no point talking about it now. If we are talking about an upcoming T20 international, say India are playing a match in June, then he definitely fits into the team, the kind of form that he has shown.

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'If I was a selector and India were playing a T20I in June, I would pick him'

"But, speaking about the 2024 World Cup, which will be held in West Indies and America, the form of players needs to be observed in the IPL before that and then we can talk about selection for the World Cup squad. Virat would definitely be in my T20I team on current form for India’s upcoming matches in the format. He has scored two hundreds [in IPL 2023]. Hitting two hundredsin T20 cricket, even scoring 50 is difficult.

"This great batter has notched up two hundreds. If I was a selector and India were playing a T20 in June this year, I would, without doubt, pick him in the squad."

Kohli ended IPL 2023 with 639runs for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), including six fifties and two back-to-back hundreds.

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