Former India opener keeps Virat Kohli at third in his top five T20I batters in 2022

The year 2022 will be forever remembered for Virat Kohli’s incredible return to form after going through the worst phase of his career during the first six months. The star batter changed his fortunes in the Asia Cup 2022 where he finished as the second-highest run-scorer of the tournament. He further continued his sensational form and played the innings of his life to script an improbable win for India against Pakistan in their opening encounter of the 20-20 World Cup.

Kohli also finished as the highest run-getter in the tournament with 296 runs in six matches at an incredible average of 98.66. Former Indian opener Aakash Chopra has hailed the transformation that Kohli underwent from wretched form to reach the peak. On his YouTube channel, Chopra rated the top five T20I batters in 2022 and gave Kohli the third position in his list.

Going by stats in 2022 and his own analysis, he ranked the top five batters as Suryakumar Yadav(India), Mohammad Rizwan(Pakistan), Virat Kohli(India), Sikander Raza(Zimbabwe) and Devon Conway(New Zealand). Chopra was all praise for Kohli and highlighted his incredible numbers and performances in difficult conditions in 2022.

“Nobody would have imagined that Virat Kohli would find a place on this list. He struggled for form for years altogether, and his performances were quite underwhelming in the Indian T20 League too. Everything was going wrong for him,” said Chopra.

“However, by the end of 2022, he has turned things around in remarkable fashion. In T20Is this year, Kohli has scored 781 runs in 20 matches at an average of 55.78 with a strike rate of 138.23. He was outstanding during the 20-20 World Cup. The pitches were quite challenging against Pakistan and England during the World Cup, but he still managed to score,” he added.

I am not including Babar Azam in my list: Aakash Chopra

However, Chopra didn’t include Babar Azam in the top five list despite him being the fifth-highest run-getter in T20Is in 2022. He also informed the viewers about the logic behind it.

“Going by the stats, Babar Azam should be the No.5 but I am not including him in my list. He has scored 735 runs in 26 matches and his average is only 32 and strike rate merely 123. Sorry! but I can’t take him in my team. I am including Devon Conway’s name instead at his place. Conway’s numbers in T20Is in 2022 are unbelievable, had he played more matches in the format this year, he would have overtaken SKY(Suryakumar Yadav) to claim the top position,” said Chopra