‘Biggest Load of Rubbish’ - Aaron Finch Brutally Takes Down Virat Kohli Detractors

Virat Kohli’s cheeky ‘I’ve still got it, I guess’ comment aimed at his detractors after his match-winning effort in Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s victory over Punjab Kings is being talked about all around the globe. After his leave of absence from the India vs England series, Kohli returned to action in IPL and with ICC T20 World Cup 2024 on the horizon immediately after the IPL, there have been murmurs about Kohli meriting a spot in the Indian squad for the biennial event. However, with a 49-ball 77, Kohli gave a fitting reply to his detractors and went ahead to remind everyone during the post-match chat that he has still got it.

“I know my name is now attached to just promoting the game in different parts of the world when it comes to T20 cricket. I’ve still got it I guess,” Kohli had said.

Discussing the same, Aaron Finch on ESPN’s Around the Wicket show blasted the Kohli critics, saying that even the conversation around Kohli not being fit for India’s T20 World Cup squad is just ludicrous.

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“I can’t understand why every time there’s an ICC event coming up in any format, people always talk about Virat Kohli. Is he under pressure for his spot? That is the biggest load of rubbish I’ve never heard in of my life,” said the ICC T20 World Cup winning captain, adding,” He is the greatest player that I’ve ever seen in white ball cricket. And doesn’t matter that he strikes at 140 and there’s guys who strike at 160. If I’m picking a team, you’re picking a guy who, you know, day in, day out and like Ferg [Callum Ferguson] said, in big games, gets the job done. So just ludicrous that we keep having this conversation.”

Ferguson, a former Australian international, concurred with Finch, saying Kohli is India’s most important player because of his ability to manage big games in big tournaments.

“You’ve only got to look at the way he’s managed big games, in big tournaments in the last two or three years to almost suggest he’s one of their most important players. So, he’s in that side for mine. Lock him away. And going on about the way he’s come back into it over the last couple of games, Darren Lehman used to always say best when fresh, particularly towards the back end of your career. No doubt that’s worked for Virat this time round, and hopefully he can use it as a launching pad going into the World Cup.”

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On the debate over his strike rate, Ferguson added that Kohli plays as per the game’s situation and relying on his low strike rates as an argument can be a bit skewed.

“Sometimes I reckon those strike rates can be skewed because he’ll play to get the W [win] and make sure there’s no risk involved in getting there at the back end, particularly with the tail. He’ll make sure of that. And sometimes his strike rate may be sacrificed a little bit, but he gets the wins for his team,” added the former middle-order bat.