In what proved to be a shocking announcement, Indian Cricket Team’s premier batter Virat Kohli announced his retirement from T20 International Cricket after guiding the Men in Blue to their second T20 World Cup trophy against South Africa in Barbados.
He made this announcement in the post match presentation of the Men’s T20 World Cup Final 2024 and this decision of the 35 year old has stunned all the Cricket fans across the world. Virat’s departure from T20 Internationals at such an important moment just goes on to show the kind of influence he has had in the sport.
The former Indian skipper is regarded as one of the best batters in Modern Day Cricket and his stats in the shortest format of the game just go on to show what kind of a legendary career he has had in T20 Cricket.
In 125 games, Kohli has scored 4,188 runs at an excellent strike rate of 137.04 and a really good average of 48.69 which includes 38 half centuries, the highest by any active player and one century as well. He is the second-highest run getter in the shortest format of the game, just behind his teammate Rohit Sharma who also announced his retirement along with Kohli from T20i Cricket after winning in the final against the South Africans.
In the post match presentation of the final, where Kohli was also declared as the man of the match said,” This was my final T20 International match for the Indian Cricket Team. I would have announced my retirement even if we would have lost the final against the South Africans. It’s time for the next group of talented youngsters to take the Indian Cricket Team forward in T20 Internationals,” Kohli said.
With King Kohli’s retirement from T20 Cricket, many fans are wondering which youngsters will replace them in the Indian Team and we are going to provide the information regarding the same as in this article we will take a look at three potential players who might replace King Kohli in the Indian Cricket Team.
Three Players who might replace Virat Kohli in India’s T20 International squad:
3. Ruturaj Gaikwad
Ruturaj Gaikwad, the skipper of five time IPL champions Chennai Super Kings, is a strong contender to replace King Kohli in India’s T20 International squad. The 27 year old won the Orange Cap in the 2021 season of the Indian Premier League, scoring 635 runs in 16 matches with the help of four fifties and one hundred. He scored these runs at a good strike rate of 136.26.
Ruturaj has also performed well in International Cricket for the Men in Blue as he has already managed to get 500 runs under his belt in 19 encounters with a really good strike rate of 140.01. He has so far managed to score three half centuries and one century with a best score of 123* against Australia.
He knows how to play well under pressure and would be really keen to replace King Kohli in India’s T20 International squad.
2. Rajat Patidar
Rajat Patidar, hailing from the city of Indore of Madhya Pradesh, is a highly talented right handed batter who plays for the Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the IPL. In 27 IPL games, the 31 year old has already managed to amass 799 runs at a strike rate of 158.8 and he has an average of 34.7. In the eliminator game of IPL 2022 between LSG and RCB, Patidar played an unbelievable unbeaten knock of 112* runs in just 54 balls and single-handedly helped his team qualify for the second qualifier that year.
That knock helped him to become the first uncapped-player to score a century in the Playoffs of the Indian Premier League. Notably, he brought up his century in 49 deliveries and that tied him up with Wicketkeeper batsman Wriddhiman Saha for the joint-fastest hundred in the history of IPL playoffs.
He is a pretty reliable batter at number three and knows how to smack bit sixes against the spinners so his attacking brand of Cricket might just give him the edge over the others.
1. Shubman Gill
Shubman Gill, the Prince of Indian Cricket and the captain of Gujarat Titans is regarded as the next big thing in Indian Cricket. The 24 year old has had a bright start to his T20 International career as he has already amassed 335 runs in 14 games with an impressive strike rate of 147.57. So far, he has brought up one fifty and a century as well with a personal best score of 126 runs.
His batting style is similar to Virat as both of them prefer to take their own sweet time to settle at the crease and then aggress according to the needs of the situation. He won the Orange Cap in IPL 2023 where he scored 890 runs that year and became the second highest run scorer in a single IPL season. Having crossed the 3000 runs mark in the cash rich T20 league, Gill has proven his potential and has what it takes to replace Virat Kohli in the Indian Cricket Team.
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