Former India spinner Harbhajan Singh believes Virat Kohli is not the kind of player who will think about statistics and check what he needs to do to reclaim the top spot in the T20I batting charts.
Notably, Pakistan skipper Babar Azam surpassed Kohli's tally for most runs in men's T20Is during the group stage of the ongoing T20 World Cup, taking place in the USA and West Indies.
Kohli, who entered into the T20 World Cup 2024 on the back of a fantastic IPL season, has failed to make a mark so far. The right-hander has registered scores of 1 and 4 against Ireland and Pakistan while opening the innings for India.
Speaking on Star Sports, Harbhajan said Virat Kohli will be keen on getting some runs under his belt in the global showpiece tournament, but he would not be bothered about getting the leading run-scorer record back to his name.
"I am not sure if he is checking all these records that Babar has gone ahead of him. But, one thing is sure. He must be itching to get big runs under his belt before he gets to the next round which will be played in the Caribbean," Harbhajan stated.
"There the matches will be played on better pitches. Virat Kohli, obviously, must be thinking how to get runs under his belt. Knowing the champion that he is, he will be doing all the hard work to get those runs for India. He will just focus on the first 10 balls. If he bats for 10 balls, then we know what Virat Kohli can do," he added.
Virat Kohli is currently 71 runs behind Babar Azam, who is heading the T20I batting charts with 4113 runs to his name from 122 matches. As of today, Kohli has played three T20Is less than Babar and has better average and strike rate than the Pakistan captain in the shortest format.
Former India pacer Laxmipathy Balaji said Kohli doesn’t need to prove anything to anyone and backed the star batter to regain his form in India’s T20 World Cup match against USA in New York on June 12.
"I don't think he needs to prove anything to anybody. He must be thinking about the battle that he probably is having with himself. Virat is a modern-day great. He will be wanting to make a mark on this platform. Yes, Virat hasn't gotten off to a great start, but run-scoring has been difficult on this pitch," Balaji remarked.
