• Source:JND
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Amid the outside criticism over Virat Kohli's T20 batting skills, his Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) teammate Glenn Maxwell has backed the star batter's inclusion in the T20 World Cup squad by saying, 'I’m hoping India don’t pick him.'

Australia's attacking batter recalled Kohli's batting masterclass when he scored an unbeaten 82 off 51 balls to guide India to a comfortable win against his side in the 2016 T20 World Cup.

The star Indian batter has been on song for RCB in the ongoing edition of the IPL 2024. He is the highest run-getter in the tournament with 319 runs in six matches including a century and two fifties.

“Virat Kohli is the most clutch player I’ve ever played against. You see his career just stands as the most amazing tournament rap sheet. The innings he played against us in Mohali in the 2016 T20 World Cup is the most amazing innings I’ve had played against me. It changed the face of the whole game. He was hitting balls to different areas on a wicket that was inconsistent. He had the ability to change his hands position at the last moment and flick it almost like a table tennis bat and time it into the gap or over the fences. It’s something that’s unmatched around the world. His awareness is phenomenal,” Maxwell recalled in ESPN’s Around The Wicket Show.

“It’s been amazing to train alongside him and watch him go about it. But I still have to play against him. So I’m hoping India don’t pick him,” the Australian swashbuckler added.

The 35-year-old batter finished the 2023 ODI World Cup with a record-setting 765 runs in 11 matches with three centuries and six half-centuries to break Sachin Tendulkar's record in the tournament.

Kohli's ODI World Cup performance is a testament to his mental strength and batting prowess in the mega tournaments. Despite the talks of his poor strike rate in the shortest format, he is one of the top batters when it comes to run-chase and anchoring the innings across formats.