Asia Cup 2023 is fixed to arrive and is scheduled in Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Naturally, all the cricket fans are excited enough with their loving cricketers. Indian is a true cricket-loving country. Recently, Virat Kohli has been the name of power in world cricket. Millions of people will keep their eyes on him in this upcoming cricket tournament, especially Indian cricket fans.
Finally, the Asian Cricket Council approved the tournament in a hybrid mode. So, finally, it is set that Kohli will play his ODI-format Asia Cup matches after a long gap of 9 years in Sri Lanka.
The scenario:
Asia Cup this year is of huge importance as it will be played in the One Day International format as teams prepare for the World Cup in India in October-November. Asia Cup in the ODI format was last seen in 2018, ahead of the 2019 World Cup. Interestingly, Virat Kohli will be playing in the ODI Asia Cup for the 1st time in 8 years as the man was rested from the 2018’s tournament.
He last featured in the tournament in the 50-50 format way back in the year 2014 when India had failed to qualify for the final round. They had only won against Bangladesh and Afghanistan and lost to Sri Lanka and Pakistan. India had lost all those matches by a close margin. Perhaps, Shahid Afridi had kept the match away from India’s grasp, taking Pakistan to victory by one wicket while team Sri Lanka had won by just 2 wickets.
Kohli in ODI format:
Kohli is more comfortable in ODI matches than in other formats. If we look at his ODI performances, Virat Kohli has played 274 ODI matches, including the Asia Cup matches. He has made 12,898 runs in those matches with a strike rate of 93.62. Comparatively, if we look at his T-20 performances, he has made only 4,008 runs in 115 matches. Even though we saw him taking wickets in both ODI and T-20 matches, the number of catches he took is far more than in the T-20 matches, which is 141.
In the upcoming Asia Cup matches, Kohli will get enough chances to score and add more runs to his score bag. His previous scoring record was alright on the grounds of Sri Lanka. However, his current form is quite good in the national jersey, and he will get more chances to prove his supremacy in the next tournament.
Kohli in Asia Cup 2022:
In the last Asia Cup in 2022, we saw Virat Kohli making average runs in all five matches. In the first match against Pakistan, he made 35 runs facing 34 balls. He had a strike rate of 102.94 with three boundaries and one sixer. In the next match against Hongkong, Kohli made a half-century with 59 runs in 44 balls. In this match, Kohli had a good strike rate of 134.09. In the match, he also delivered six balls.
Therefore, In the 3rd match of Asia Cup 2022, Kohli faced Pakistan again in the round of super fours. He showed a great innings of 60 runs in 44 balls, and the strike rate was 136.36. He smashed 4 boundaries and an over-boundary. The fourth match was against Sri Lanka. In this match, he faced a downfall.
Kohli just faced 4 balls and suddenly got out in the fourth ball. But this is not the end, as in the last match of the Asia Cup, Kohli made a grand 122 runs and made a brilliant century in just 61 balls. In this match, he had a good strike rate of 200, hitting 12 fours and 6 sixes. So, in the journey of the Asia Cup last year, Virat Kohli had a good performance on an overall basis. He might score better in the 50-50 cricket format and perform well.
Conclusion:
India is considered the most successful team in the cricketing history of the Asia Cup; winning the coveted title 7 times. They won the title in 1984, 1988, 1990-91, 1995, 2010, 2016, and 2018. With a royal cricketing tradition and a wealth of talent, team India has consistently proven to be a dominant force in the tournament. Virat Kohli may help the team to lift the Asia Cup title again in this hybrid format. However, this Asia Cup tournament is also a warm-up series that can greatly impact the ICC ODI Cricket World Cup this year
