Following Kohli's IPL strike rate, he must be included in T20 WC squad, says Lara

RCB’s Virat Kohli during his unbeaten 113 against RR in Jaipur on Saturday. Pic/AFP; (right) Brian Lara

Legendary Brian Lara asserted that Virat Kohli's value transcends cold numbers, and the West Indian virtuoso has little doubt that the star batter should be a part of India's T20 World Cup squad.

Kohli stood in the eye of a social media storm after making a 67-ball hundred for Royal Challengers Bengaluru against Rajasthan Royals at Jaipur, which was the joint slowest hundred in the competition alongside Manish Pandey's century in 2009.

Also Read: IPL 2024 | Bishoni's catch was a match-turner, feels Ajay Jadeja

"The strike-rate depends on position, and for an opener strike-rate of 130-140 is pretty alright. But if you are coming in the middle-order then you may be required to hit at 150 or 160. As you have seen in this IPL, batsmen are hitting at 200 in the latter part of an innings. But an opener like Kohli always has the chance of starting at 130, bat through the overs and finish at 160 or even higher, which is alright," Lara said on Monday.

"But if you ask me, India's top three in the World Cup should be Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Shubman Gill irrespective of all these. And for RCB, it should not be about one person, as it has to be a team effort," said Lara.

The Trinidadian said opening the innings with Kohli and Rohit in the T20 World Cup could be a tempting option, but strongly advocated India pairing a younger name with the experienced player at pole position.

This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever