Popular Bollywood actor Ayushman Khurrana came out in support of Team India's talismanic batter Virat Kohli after his poor returns in the T20 World Cup 2024 semifinal against England at the Providence Stadium In Guyana on Thursday, June 27.
Virat Kohli's poor run of form continued as he was dismissed cheaply by Reece Topley in India's batting. Many had expected that the legendary batter would step up for the team in an important clash but failed to do so. On the third Kohli flicked his bat over the mid-wicket and went soaring over the ropes off Reece Topley's delivery.
However, Topley had a last laugh as he ended Kohli's stay at the crease by dismissing him for just 9 runs. Following his dismissal, there has been criticisms on Kohli's lacklustre outings in the T20 World Cup 2024.
Taking to his X handle (formerly Twitter), Ayushman Khurrana hits out at Virat Kohli's naysayers, stating that the legendary batter is going through a temprory lean patch and will soon get back to his form.
"Dear naysayers, Kohli is a legend. He can rock at any position. It’s just a temporary lean patch. His class is permanent. Chill maadi." Bollywood actor wrote on X.
Ahead of the T20 World Cup 2024, Virat Kohli was in a stupendous form as he emerged as the Orange Cap winner by becoming the highest run-getter in IPL 2024, with with 741 runs, including a century and 5 fifties, at an average of 61.75 in 15 matches.
However, Kohli has struggled his replicate his IPL form in T20 World Cup as he could manage to score only 75 runs at an average of 10.71 and a strike rate of 100 in seven matches thus far.
India set 172-run target for England to chase
Team India set a target of 172 runs for England to chase in the semifinal. After putting to bat first, India lost two early wickets in Virat Kohli (9) and Rishabh Pant (4) and they were at 40/2. Thereafter, skipper Rohit Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav revived India's batting with a crucial 73-run stand for the third wicket until the former was dismissed for 57 at 113/3.
Suryakumar Yadav's stay at the crease came to an end after he was removed for 47 at 124/4. After SKY's dismissal, Hardik Pandya chipped in with a cameo knock of 23 off 13 balls before he was dismissed at 146/5. India lost another wicket in quick succession as Shivam Dube dismissed for a golden duck.
Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel formed a 24-run partnership to take the team past 150-run mark until the latter was dismissed for 170/7. Eventually, India posted a total of 171.7, with Jadeja and Arshdeep Singh unbeaten on 17 and 1, respectively.
For England, Chris Jordan led the bowling attack with three wickets, while Reece Topley, Sam Curran, Adil Rashid and Jofra Archer picked a wicket each.
