“Important for him to…”: Suresh Raina’s message to Virat Kohli ahead of WTC final and ODI World Cup

India’s star batsman Virat Kohli is back in form and in time too as India face Australia in the much-awaited World Test Championship (WTC) final in June in England before heading into ICC World Cup at home later this year. Kohli’s form is always a big plus for India, especially in ODIs as he chases Sachin Tendulkar’s record of 49 ODI tons. Kohli, currently sits at 46 of them – second in the list.

Speaking on Kohli form, former India batsman Suresh Raina, told media outlet Sports Yaari, “He is in great form, has maintained his fitness very well. Played very well in the last Test match.”

Raina also backed Kohli to break Sachin’s record of 100 centuries in the international cricket. Kohli currently has 75 international tons – 28 in Tests, 46 in ODIs and one in T20Is.

“He has always been in form and now he is scoring centuries. That’s why they say that we should visit the Mahakaleshwar temple, performances will come. For sure he will get top 100 centuries,” said Raina while jokingly referring to Virat’s recent visit to the aforementioned temple with his wife.

Talking about WTC final, Raina said it would be interesting to see how Kohli fares in England as he has been playing on too many turning tracks.

“I think he was playing on too many turning tracks. It will be fun to see him bat in the WTC final. Virat is a champion, has given India performances at crucial times. Now with the World Cup coming it is important for him to keep maintain this form,” Raina added.

Kohli, however, has two more chances in the upcoming days to reach closer to Sachin’s ODI century record in the ongoing ODI series against Australia. 

India won the first ODI by five wickets with Kohli only scoring four on a spicy Mumbai pitch. The next match is scheduled to be played in Vishakhapatnam on March 19 and Kohli, who has 5362 runs at home, will have shot to surpass Ricky Pointing’s total of 5,406 runs at home in ODIs.

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