Virat Kohli is one of the greatest cricketers ever to grace the game of cricket. But the last two years for Kohli haven’t gone as he would have liked to. Several fans have also demanded the axing of Kohli from the Indian team. Former England spinner Monty Panesar has revealed the reason why the talismanic scorer has managed to keep his place in the Indian team despite getting out on low scores frequently.
Kohli has countless records to his name in international cricket. However, in recent times he is struggling with form and confidence. Monty Panesar believes that the BCCI has kept Virat Kohli in the Indian team to keep sponsors happy and increase their brand value in the market.
In an interview with Times of India, Panesar said, “Are BCCI under pressure too, regardless of whatever the result and role Virat Kohli has to play, to keep the sponsors happy? That’s probably the biggest question. They can’t drop him or afford to drop him because they’ll probably lose huge financial sponsorship,” he stated.”
Monty Panesar also compared Virat Kohli to the likes of Ronaldo. Monty Panesar stated that both of them have a huge following and a big source of attraction.
“It’s like Cristiano Ronaldo. Whenever Ronaldo plays for Manchester United, everyone’s watching football. Virat Kohli is the same. He has got a huge following and attraction,” he added.
“Most marketable cricketer in the world” – Monty Panesar lauds Virat Kohli
Monty Panesar called Virat Kohli the most marketable cricketer in the world. The former left-arm spinner believes that Kohli has a huge fan following across the world. Monty also praised the intensity and passion of Kohli and revealed that the cricketer is admired a lot in England.
“The difficulty here is that he is the most marketable cricketer in the world. Fans love him a lot. We all just love Virat and his intensity. Sometimes, it’s borderline, but he’s very much admired in England. So, from the BCCI’s perspective, they’ve got to sit down and decide,” he concluded.
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