“Many More Years to Come to Play All Formats”: Chris Gayle Encourages Former Teammate Virat Kohli to Perform Before the 2024 Indian Premier League

Chris Gayle, a legend in the West Indies, thinks Virat Kohli still has it in him to represent India in every format. IPL 2024 kicks off on Friday, March 22, and this will be Kohli’s first competitive cricket match back after a two-month break. He is scheduled to play in the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) prelim match against the reigning Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in Chennai.

On Virat Kohli in the next T20 spectacular, all eyes will be on him. The five-match Test series between India and England, which started in January and ended earlier this month, was originally scheduled to include the batter from Delhi. But since he had obligations to his family, he removed his name.

With the Twenty20 World Cup in 2024 approaching, Kohli’s exploits will undoubtedly come up for discussion. With 639 runs in 14 innings the previous year, he came in fourth in the Orange Cap competition.

Although there is no denying his skill in T20 cricket, there has been much conjecture over his future in the shorter format of international cricket.

Former RCB colleague Chris Gayle is certain that Kohli can benefit India greatly in all three forms.

Chris Gayle, in an interview with Cricbuzz, threw doubt on Virat Kohli’s ability as a T20 hitter and predicted that he will be a premier player for many years to come. The one and only Virat Kohli is still going strong, which makes him really special. He has many more years to play all the forms remaining in him. We’ll see what demands he makes for both Indian cricket and himself,” the former cricket player from Jamaica said.

There has been much discussion over Virat Kohli’s future in Twenty20 internationals for India ever since the team’s devastating semi-final loss to England in the 2022 Twenty20 World Cup in Australia.

Virat Kohli and captain Rohit Sharma returned for the three-match T20I series against Afghanistan in January, after a 14-month hiatus from T20I selection. In those three matches, Kohli participated in two of them, but he was unable to make an impact and instead served to incite the doubters.

Virat Kohli, 35, is keen to make a significant impact with Royal Challenge Bangalore (RCB) in the Twenty20 World Cup in June, since the IPL 2024 is the last format of cricket he will play before the tournament. For the batting maverick, helping the team win their first-ever IPL crown would be the cherry on top.