“I cannot imagine Virat Kohli playing that shot that early in the innings” - Dinesh Karthik opens up on Babar Azam’s poor knock vs India

Former Indian keeper-batter Dinesh Karthik has opened up on Babar Azam’s poor innings against their arch-rivals India in the group stage clash on Sunday, February 15, at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo.

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Notably, the No.4 batter Babar got out for five runs off seven balls, chasing a 176-run target, which didn’t go down well with many in the cricketing fraternity. Since the conclusion of the ICC T20 World Cup 2021, Babar has accumulated scores of 10, 14, 0, 13, and 5 against India, posting a total of 110 runs in six games at an average of 22 and a strike rate of 123.59.

At the same time, Kohli has racked up a total of 492 runs in 11 matches against Pakistan, with an average of 70.28, including his nerve-wracking knock at the MCG during the ICC T20 World Cup 2022, where he helped India win from a near-impossible spot.

“I cannot imagine Virat Kohli playing that shot that early in the innings. That is submission. It is not having belief in what it takes to win or how to take your team closer to victory," Karthik said on Cricbuzz.

“That absorption of pressure is what makes greatness. Every game cannot be easy where you just come and play a few shots," he added.

There have been talks in the Pakistan cricketing fraternity that senior players like Babar Azam, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Shadab Khan should be dropped from the game against Namibia with benched players taking their spots in the playing XI.

India will next take on the Netherlands in their fourth group stage game on Wednesday, February 18, at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. On the other hand, Pakistan will take on Namibia in their fourth group stage clash on Wednesday, February 18, at the SSC Stadium in Colombo.

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