XtraTime Web Desk: Virat Kohli didn’t do that well in the ongoing Indian Premier League 2019 as captain as his side ended the league at the bottom of the table with 11 points in 14 matches. He played all the matches for his side and scored 462 runs in 14 innings with a modest average of 33.14 with two half centuries and a hundred. It wasn’t a great season for him as the fans expected more from World’s best batsman and for that reason former India captain & head coach Anil Kumble didn’t pick him in his IPL 2019 XI.
In his team there are a few big names like David Warner, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant, MS Dhoni (c & wk) along with Hardik Pandya and Andre Russell as two dynamic all-rounders. In bowlers list he picked Shreyas Gopal, Imran Tahir, Jasprit Bumrah and Kagiso Rabada. Though the team looks good on paper but leaving Kohli raised a lot of questions as his runs weren’t best like the other seasons but not below-par.
However, in a video for Cricket Next, Kumble explained his reason for ignoring Kohli, and why he choose Delhi skipper Shreyas Iyer for the No. 3 spot. “Iyer is young and has done really well. He has batted in difficult conditions. The Delhi pitch hasn’t been great but he’s led from the front. Was thinking of keeping Virat, Iyer, and Dhoni as No. 3, 4, and 5 but wanted to have a left-hander in the side. Therefore I’m opting for Rishabh pant. Pant has shown a lot of maturity, scored runs for Delhi Capitals.”