Former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra lauded Virat Kohli for turning things around in remarkable fashion this year after going through a really bad phase in his career, as he added the former Team India captain to his list of the top five T20I batters in 2022.
Kohli struggled for runs across the formats for nearly three years before making the whole world once again his fan with his remarkable comeback in the 2022 Asia Cup, and since then he has been performing brilliantly in white-ball cricket with the bat for the Indian team.
Well, Chopra ranked Suryakumar Yadav as his number one batter in his list of the top five T20I batters in 2022, followed by Pakistan’s Mohammad Rizwan, Kohli, Zimbabwe’s Sikander Raza, and New Zealand’s Devon Conway.
However, it was quite surprising that Chopra didn’t name Babar Azam in his list despite the Pakistan skipper being the fifth-highest run-getter in T20Is this year with 846 runs.
Aakash Chopra said his YouTube channel: “Nobody would have imagined that Virat Kohli would find a place on this list. He struggled for form for years altogether, and his performances were quite underwhelming in the IPL too. Everything was going wrong for him.”
The former opener continued, “However, by the end of 2022, he has turned things around in remarkable fashion. In T20Is this year, Kohli has scored 781 runs in 20 matches at an average of 55.78 with a strike rate of 138.23. He was outstanding during the T20 World Cup. The pitches were quite challenging against Pakistan and England during the World Cup, but he still managed to score.”
Explaining why he didn't include Babar in the top five list, Chopra noted: “Going by the stats, Babar Azam should be the No.5 but I am not including him in my list. He has scored 735 runs in 26 matches and his average is only 32 and strike rate merely 123. Sorry! but I can't take him in my team.”
He signed off by saying, “I am including Devon Conway's name instead at his place. Conway's numbers in T20Is in 2022 are unbelievable, had he played more matches in the format this year, he would have overtaken SKY (Suryakumar Yadav) to claim the top position.”
