By: Melvin Samuel
England’s all-rounder Ben Stokes heaped praise on Virat Kohli ahead of the semi-final clash against India and said that the star Indian batter can never be written off given his performances, during a press conference in Adelaide on Tuesday.
Stokes was referring to the recent slump that Kohli had gone through before surging back into form in the World Cup. “He has earned the right to be never written off. He has produced the numbers consistently in all three formats. We as players playing the game, never take the past results in the coming games,” said the England all-rounder.
Commenting on Indian captain Rohit Sharma’s form in the ongoing T20 World Cup he said that the batter is a world-class player who has proved his mettle in the short format and cannot be ever taken lightly.
“He is one of the best to play the game, especially in this format. You can’t think about their previous performances and play the game. He is a world-class player and we won’t be taking him lightly at all.”
When asked about the form of World No 1 T20I batter Suryakumar Yadav and England’s plan to counter the batsman, he said, “He has come in and set the world alight. He is a fantastic player. He plays shots that leave you scratching your head sometimes. He is in great form but we will try and get him down not allow him to get into the run pages.”
Stokes did not downplay the pressure and difficulty of getting into the World Cup and playing in the semi-finals.
“Facing off in the semi-final of the World Cup is going to be tough. Both groups were very tough to get through. This is a crunch time in the tournament. Which team can turn up and perform the best on Thursday will be crucial,” expressed Stokes ahead of the semi-final clash.
The England test captain also spoke about the captaincy of Jos Buttler and his effect on the team and said, “He was always the leader of the group. Everyone who’s in the squad, in the team follows him. It’s one thing to be a captain and then make a decision based on it with the team following it and backing it up.”
England will lock horns with India at the Adelaide Oval on November 10 for a spot in the finals of the T20 World Cup 2022.
(ANI)
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