Legend Brian Lara on Monday asserted that Virat Kohli’s value goes beyond cold numbers and the West Indies maestro has no doubt that the star batsman should be India’s Part of the T20 World Cup squad. Kohli scored a 67-ball hundred for Royal Challengers Bangalore against Rajasthan Royals in IPL 2024 in Jaipur, matching Manish Pandey’s 2009 Tied for slowest 100 in the game.

“The strike rate depends on the position and for an opener, a strike rate of 130-140 is pretty good. But if you are in the middle order, then you might need to hit 150 or 160. As you can see in this IPL, the strike rate is The batsmen hit 200 runs in the second half of the innings,” Lala told a Star Sports press conference, which was also attended by former India batsman Ambati Rayudu.

“But there is always a chance for an opener like Kohli to start with 130, pass the overs and end with 160 or even more, that’s okay. “But if you ask me, the top three in India’s World Cup should be Rohit Sharma , Virat Kohli and Shubman Gill don’t care about that. For RCB, it shouldn’t be about one person as it has to be a team effort,” Lara said.

The Trinidadian said opening the batting with Kohli and Rohit could be a tempting option in the T20 World Cup, but strongly advocated for India to pair a young player with an experienced pole-sitter.

“I think Rohit and Virat will serve India well as West Indies (World Cup) openers. However, I think you should have some youthful energy in the opening. A young player showed his mettle and Let an experienced player call the shots in midfield.

“With the whole experience, if they were dismissed early it could have a negative impact, so I would use one at the top but another one at third,” the southpaw said.

Which brings us to the topic of Yashasvi Jaiswal’s slimming patches for Rajasthani wear.

Jaiswal comes into the IPL after a stunning Test series against England, but he has not made any valuable contribution so far.

The southpaw has scored just 39 points in four games, averaging just 9.75 points per game.

Lara feels that the young star might be a little anxious as the T20 World Cup selection is approaching.

“He had a very, very special Test series for India earlier this year. But I think he was a little too anxious (about selection). That reflected in the batting because there wasn’t a lot of body or foot movement. He certainly has his ability, but he’s eager to shoot,” Lara said.

The 54-year-old West Indian, who has scored over 20,000 international runs, said Jaiswal should focus on the task at hand.

“It’s natural for young players like Jaiswal, Gill, Abhishek Sharma or Riyan Parag to be a little anxious. They know that if they score here, they can make it to the (Indian) World Cup team. But you need to distinguish between these two ideas.

“I have struggled with this throughout my playing days. My advice to them is to focus on the IPL, try your best to get runs and the World Cup (selection) will take care of itself,” he added.

‘RCB doesn’t have the right team’

Lara said RCB currently does not have the right combination of players to make an impact in the tournament.

RCB are ninth on the points table with just 2 points from five games.

“What RCB faces is more of a structural problem. I don’t think they have the right team in the middle. I don’t think they have the right batting order,” he said.

Lara pointed to the absence of hard-hitting Mahipal Lomror against Royals as a case in point.

“Lomro, I think he has done everything that was asked of him, he was an impactful player and performed well but still did not play against Rajasthan Royals.” Lara said if not It is impossible to win the IPL without significant contributions from local players, which hints at the importance of foreign cricketers in the RCB system.

“They should shift their focus more to local talent. Focus on international talent. Of course, you have Virat but I think they do have good local talent.

“You can’t win the IPL trophy without the performance of home-grown stars. I would like to see them more involved in the crucial moments of the game,” he added.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)