BCCI chief selector Ajit Agarkar has heaped praise on Virat Kohli ahead of the T20 World Cup team selection. Agarkar said Kohli had revolutionised the fitness benchmarks in Indian cricket and that those aspiring to take up the sport had been massively influenced by him. 

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Agarkar’s praise should come as assurance for Kohli fans who have been worried that the former Indian captain would not be on the plane to the US and West Indies for the marquee tournament.  

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“Look at Virat. He is one of those guys who has set a benchmark. 10-15 years into his career, he has only gotten fitter. And you can see the results. If someone like him sets an example, puts forward certain things than you need, certain fitness levels you need, gradually it has progressed. BCCI has been instrumental as well with all the academies that have happened,” said Agarkar at SportifywithPRG podcast. 

“You learn a lot quicker. Boys today at 15-16 are a lot fitter than what they were and they should be now with the amount of knowledge, awareness and facilities available,” Agarkar, who played 26 Tests and 191 ODIs for India added. 

Kohli under scrutiny

Notably, Kohli came under heavy scrutiny post the match against Rajasthan Royals on last week where he smashed his eighth IPL century. However, it was the joint-slowest century in IPL history, alongside Manish Pandey’s 67-ball ton against Deccan Chargers in 2009. 

Pundits argued that Kohli’s innings was more counterproductive to RCB’s cause than other batters as the team only lost three wickets in the stipulated 20 overs. RCB finished with only 183 on board and eventually lost the contest by six wickets as Jos Buttler smashed a 58-ball hundred. 

With T20 cricket constantly evolving, a section of fans believes that Kohli’s archaic style of anchoring the innings and going big at the end could cost the Indian squad another ICC trophy. 

There have been multiple reports in the past few weeks suggesting that power hitters like Rinku Singh, Shivam Dube, Suryakumar Yadav and Jitesh Sharma will be preferred over Kohli.  

Agarkar-led selection committee is expected to pick the squad for the tournament between the last week of April and the first week of May. 

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