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Virat Kohli parted ways with T20Is after India’s triumphant run at the 2024 T20 World Cup in Barbados, where he played a match-winning knock in the final.
Virat Kohli played a 40-ball 72-run knock against RR at the Chinnaswamy Stadium (Picture credit: AP)
Former India cricketer Suresh Raina has said that Virat Kohli retired way too early from T20Is and he could have easily played till the 2026 T20 World Cup, which will be held in the subcontinent, after the latter scored a brilliant 42-ball 70 against the Rajasthan Royals at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Thursday.
Kohli parted ways with T20Is after India’s triumphant run at the 2024 T20 World Cup in Barbados, where he played a match-winning knock in the final.
The Indian team is heading towards defending the title next year at home, without Kohli, Rohit Sharma or Ravindra Jadeja in their ranks, with a fairly young side at its disposal.
“I still think that Virat Kohli retired early from T20I cricket. He could have played until 2026, based on the rhythm with which he is playing right now, and the rhythm during the 2025 Champions Trophy as well,” Raina said while speaking on Star Sports.
After winning the Orange Cap for the second time in his career in IPL 2024, Kohli is once again in contention this year.
Kohli on Thursday praised the batting unit after a hard-fought 11-run victory over Rajasthan at the Chinnaswamy Stadium.
Put in to bat, Kohli struck a fluent 70 off 42 deliveries and shared a 95-run partnership with Devdutt Padikkal (50 off 27) for the second wicket before a late flourish propelled Bengaluru to 205/5.
In response, Rajasthan Royals were cruising at 110/2 but Bengaluru pulled things back to restrict them to 194/9, with Aussie pacer Josh Hazlewood returning match-winning figures of 4/33.
“Look, we’ve had three pretty average games at home and we discussed a few things we need to get right as a batting unit and we applied ourselves well to get the total on board,” Kohli said while speaking to the host broadcasters after the match.
RCB will next play the Delhi Capitals on Sunday, April 27 at the latter’s home.
