'India have not got a wicketkeeper like Mahi bhai' - Virat Kohli's sly dig at Rishabh Pant on the road to T20 WC

The upcoming ICC T20 World Cup is just two days away and the excitement is palpable among experts, fans, and critics. The showpiece event gets underway on Sunday (October 17) in Oman and UAE. Even the broadcasters are doing their bit to keep the audience hooked into the T20 World Cup. The official broadcasters for the global event have launched one such campaign featuring India skipper Virat Kohli and wicketkeeper batter Rishabh Pant.

In a short video clip, Kohli can be seen telling Pant about how hitting sixes is important during the T20 World Cup. The wicketkeeper-batter was quick to respond that he is practicing sixes daily and gave the example of MS Dhoni, who won the ICC Cricket World Cup in 2011 by hitting a six against Sri Lanka. It is a well-documented fact that Dhoni was one of the greatest finishers of his time. His valuable knocks lower down the order won India in numerous matches.

In the video, Kohli acknowledged the fact and said there has not come a wicketkeeper batter like Dhoni in the team. “Rishabh, sixes win you matches in T20 cricket,” Kohli tells Pant in a virtual call in the video shared by Star Sports India.

“Don’t worry bhaiya, I am practicing every day. It was a wicketkeeper that won India a World Cup by hitting a six,” said Pant.

“Yes, but India have not got a wicketkeeper like Mahi bhai since then,” Kohli said.

Pant was quick to say that he is the designated wicketkeeper in the team, who can also finish the match well for the team. But apart from Pant, there are KL Rahul and Ishan Kishan in the team. Kohli was quick to note that point and said, “See I have a lot of wicketkeepers, let’s see who plays in the warm-ups.”

 

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India bring Shardul Thakur in the squad for the T20 World Cup

With some concerns over Hardik Pandya’s bowling and fitness issues, the BCCI selectors have included Shardul Thakur in the main squad in place of Axar Patel. Thakur is more of a bowling all-rounder but is effective with the bat in the lower order. India will begin their T20 campaign by playing two warm-up matches against England and Australia on October 18 and 20 respectively.