Badrinath Criticizes Kohli After Flop Show Against Ireland in T20 World Cup 2024
Former Indian batter Subramaniam Badrinath appeared to take a jab at Virat Kohli following his disappointing performance as an opener against Ireland. In their first Group A match of the ICC T20 World Cup 2024, the Indian team, led by Rohit Sharma, faced off against Paul Stirling’s Ireland at Nassau County Stadium in New York. The game was another low-scoring affair, continuing the trend of the tournament with no 200+ scores recorded so far.
Kohli’s Struggles as Opener
Virat Kohli, who had an outstanding IPL 2024 season scoring 741 runs in 15 games, opened the batting for India alongside Rohit Sharma. This marked Kohli’s first appearance as an opener in a World Cup match, deviating from his usual position at number 3, which was occupied by Rishabh Pant for this game. Yashasvi Jaiswal was left out of the lineup.
Kohli’s stint at the crease lasted only 13 minutes. Facing the challenging conditions of New York for the first time, he seemed uncomfortable and under pressure to score quickly. On his fourth ball, Kohli attempted to hit Mark Adair’s delivery over the fence but ended up with a thick top edge, resulting in a catch at first slip. He was dismissed for just 1 run.
Badrinath’s Controversial Remarks
Following Kohli’s early departure, Subramaniam Badrinath took to X (formerly Twitter) to criticize players who excelled in IPL 2024 but struggled in the T20 World Cup. Badrinath’s tweet suggested that the IPL made ordinary batters look extraordinary, while the World Cup was exposing ordinary bowlers as being very effective. Fans debated whether Badrinath’s comments were aimed directly at Kohli, implying his success in IPL was due to the flat pitches in India.
“IPL made an ordinary batsman look extraordinary, T20 World Cup is making ordinary bowler look very good .. perennial search of middle ground in T20’s continues,” Badrinath wrote on X.
India’s Victory Despite Kohli’s Failure
Despite Kohli’s early exit, India secured a comfortable 8-wicket victory over Ireland, earning 2 points in their opening match of the T20 World Cup. Rohit Sharma led the chase with a 37-ball 52, while Rishabh Pant remained unbeaten at 36 off 26 balls, sealing the win with a six.
Kohli is expected to bounce back in India’s second Group game against Pakistan on June 9.(cricket betting tips)