Virat Kohli is shining the brightest in the ongoing World Cup 2023, currently being the top-scorer for India. He has scored 354 runs in 5 games with a century and 3 fifties. The men in blue have batted second in all five games so far and Kohli has taken the team home on most occasions. The former Indian captain is in red-hot form at the moment and the entire cricketing world has its eyes on him. However, it wasn’t the case back in 2022 when he was struggling to get a big score to his name until he broke the shackles with his first-ever T20 century; against Afghanistan in the Asia Cup.
Kohli had struggled for more than 2 years to get a century across formats. His form became a massive point of discussion with several experts suggesting his exclusion from the Indian team. During this phase, India toured England for a five-match Test series in 2021 which saw the final game getting postponed due to a Covid outbreak in the visitor’s camp.
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As India returned for the final Test in Edgbaston, they were challenged by the new English concept of playing Test cricket – ‘The Bazball’ – and the Jasprit Bumrah-led side lost the game by 7 wickets. Kohli tried sledging Jonny Bairstow but the comments fuelled the wicketkeeper-batter to get a century in the winning cause.
In the same game, Alex Lees tried getting under Kohli’s skin on the field. In a recently launched book – Bazball: The Inside Story of a Test Cricket Revolution – written by Nick Hoult and Lawrence Booth, Lees revealed a run-in with Kohli during the 2022 Edgbaston Test.
“He had been getting under people’s skin in the field when he was batting. I’m not fussed about someone’s position in the game. We are all equal out on the pitch. I just wasn’t going to put up with someone trying to intimidate me. It was as simple as that. He is an incredible player, but I thought he was just being a bit of an idiot,” Lees said, in an extract of the book serialised in The Telegraph.
After losing his patience, Lees hit back at Kohli with a comment on Kohli’s century drought.
“I’ve had two kids since you last scored a century,” Lees added.
Kohli had a forgettable run in the final Test, scoring 11 and 20 in both innings. India eventually lost the game as England pulled off a record run-chase of 378 to end the series 2-2.
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