India confirmed their World Test Championship (WTC) final spot after securing a draw against Australia in the fourth and last Test at the Narendra Modi Cricket Stadium in Ahmedabad on Monday (March 13). Virat Kohli played a significant role for the hosts in the match as he scored a brilliant ton in India’s first inning.
The former India captain finished as the second-highest run scorer of the Border Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 2023. He slammed his 28th Test century in the fourth red-ball match against the Aussies and scored a brilliant 186 off 364 deliveries. Notably, it was after a wait of 1205 days that the Delhi cricketer reached the three-figure mark in the longest format of the game.
Following Virat’s comeback, veteran Pakistan fast bowler Mohammad Amir blasted out at the 34-year-old batter’s critics for doubting the cricketer’s ability. Amir also backed Virat and said every athlete goes through ups and downs.
“Who are these people who are criticising Kohli? I really don’t understand. At the end of the day he is human. It’s not like he has a remote and you press the button every day and you get a hundred and Kohli will win the match for India. Every player goes through ups and downs,” Amir was quoted saying by Hindustan Times.
The left-arm pacer further lauded Virat for his hard work and added that whenever fans doubted the right-handed batter, he made a strong comeback to shut them.
“I know because there are certain days when I feel I am bowling well but I don’t pick any wickets. And then many a times it is like I bowl bizarrely, probably a full toss or down-the-leg delivery, and I get a wicket. You need luck as well. And you can never doubt Kohli for his hard work. He loves challenges. Every time he has been criticised, he has bounced back to prove them wrong,” added the 30-year-old pacer.
Amir also spoke about India’s chances of lifting the WTC 2023 championship and said: “India. They have very good chances (to win WTC final).”
