'Virat Kohli's fluency is still not there', Wasim Jaffer criticises star India batter even after his fifty vs Hong Kong

Source: Twitter

Asia Cup 2022: Former India captain Virat Kohli stormed back to form with a fighting unbeaten 59 off 44 balls vs Hong Kong at Dubai International Stadium on Wednesday (September 1). Virat eventually finished with a strike rate of 134.09 vs Hong Kong but it is also a fact that he started off slowly. In fact, KL Rahul and Kohli went at the same slow pace which sort of severaly affected India's run-scoring. Had Suryakumar Yadav not been there, India could have struggled to get past 160. 

Former India opener Wasim Jaffer has criticised Kohli for his innings. He feels Kohli might have scored a fifty but he still looks far from his best. Jaffer said that Kohli is still not looking as fluent as he used to be.  

"I am still worried about his fluency. His fluency is still not there. You know what we have seen before. I don't think we are seeing that fluency yet, even though he got runs," Jaffer told ESPNcricinfo. 

Jaffer made another big point that would not be music to ears of Kohli. He said that if that batter batting alongside Kohli is not striking at 150 strike rate, Team India might struggle to post big score or in a big chase. 

"Anybody who is not batting at a 140 or 150 strike rate with Virat Kohli then I think India is in trouble," said Jaffer.

He justified his point by taking example of Suryakumar's innings who smashed 68 off just 26 balls on Wednesday. He said that Suryakumar's innings took India to a score past 190 even with Kohli struggling to get going at the other end.  

"You've got to have somebody who is striking far more, you know at a much higher strike rate than Virat Kohli. If Suryakumar Yadav didn't happen (against Hong Kong), India would have ended with 150 or 160 and that would have been a dangerous score," he added.