Virat Kohli is all set to join the Indian camp in the lead-up to the T20 World Cup as the former India skipper was spotted at an airport on Thursday. The former India skipper left for the United States after a blockbuster season in the Indian Premier League (IPL). Kohli finished the IPL 2024 season as the highest run-getter with 741 runs in 15 matches. Though Kohli served a timely reminder about his T20 exploits, the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) icon didn’t receive a vote of confidence from Australian greats Ricky Ponting and Adam Gilchrist for the T20 World Cup.
World Cup winners Gilchrist and Ponting overlooked Kohli as the Aussie duo recently made interesting choices for the leading run-getter at the ICC World T20 2024. Former Australia captain Ponting predicted opener Travis Head will rewrite history at the T20 World Cup. Picking Indian speedster Jasprit Bumrah to top the bowling charts at the ICC event, batting legend Ponting feels Head will upstage Kohli to finish the T20 World Cup as the leading run-getter.
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“My prediction for the leading run-scorer will be Travis Head. I just think everything he’s done, whether it be red-ball or white-ball in the last couple of years, has been of the highest quality. I think he’s playing fearless cricket at the moment,” Ponting said on The ICC Review. Australian opener Head scored 567 runs for Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in 15 games of the IPL 2024.
“His IPL had its ups and downs, but when it’s been good, it’s been very good. It has won games of cricket for his team. It’ll be exactly the same for Australia. He might not be the most consistent on the way through this tournament, but he’ll be right up there with the leading run scorers. As I’ve said, if he spends any amount of time at the wicket for Australia, he’ll win more games than ever,” Ponting added.
Sharing his pick on the Club Prairie Fire podcast, Gilchrist surprised everyone with his pick. “I’m going go with David Warner. One big last hurrah,” the former Australian wicketkeeper-batter said. Warner had a forgetful season in the IPL 2024 with the Delhi Capitals (DC) as the Australian batter scored only 168 runs in eight games. Warner notched up a single half-century in the 2024 edition of the cash-rich league.
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