IPL 2024: Virat Kohli should be playing T20 World Cup for India – Brett Lee

Former Australian gun fast Brett Lee feels Virat Kohli should be playing T20 World Cup for India. Kohli played two T20Is against Afghanistan in which he scored 29 runs before the Test series against England.

However, he returned to the shortest format after last playing in the 2022 T20 World Cup along with Rohit Sharma. Kohli has kicked off IPL 2024 on a high for Royal Challengers Bengaluru, scoring 203 runs in four matches, which is the highest in the tournament.

Meanwhile, Kohli had scored a magnum opus knock of 82 runs against Pakistan at the MCG in the 2022 T20I showpiece when India had their backs against the wall.

“I would love to see big players playing in the T20 World Cup. I would love to see guys like Virat Kohli playing in the World Cup,” Brett Lee said.

On the other hand, Lee, who was well known to bowl consistently around the 150 kmph mark during his heydays, is impressed by Mayank Yadav. The youngster has grabbed the headlines in the ongoing season, picking a total of six wickets in the first two matches he has played for LSG.

“First things first, I don’t want to put any extra pressure on him, he is just 21. But he has got great pace and a nice action. I am super impressed with him, and really excited to see how he progresses in the next few months,” Lee, a JioCinema IPL expert, said during a round table on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Lee is once again impressed by Jasprit Bumrah. The Indian gun pacer has picked three wickets in three matches and has bowled with a parsimonious economy rate of 6.33. The former Aussie pacer feels captain Hardik Pandya hasn’t correctly utilized Bumrah.

“The bowler who impressed me the most (this IPL) from fast-bowling point of view, I am still impressed with Jasprit Bumrah. I don’t think he has been used correctly. However, he was not at his best the other evening (on Monday against Rajasthan Royals).

“It was hard for him to control the swing because he had not bowled with the brand-new ball last couple of matches. I would always like to see Bumrah using the brand-new ball,” Lee said.

India will begin their T20 World Cup campaign against Ireland.