Source: One Cricket
Former West Indies captain Chris Gayle has backed Virat Kohli to shatter his huge batting record in the upcoming 2025 ICC Champions Trophy. Kohli, at the age of 36, will possibly be featured in his final Champions Trophy campaign when the tournament makes its return after a gap of eight years next week.
Gayle, who holds the record of scoring the highest number of runs in Champions Trophy history, believes Kohli is still among the best players in the world who can go big for Team India in the upcoming eight-team competition in Pakistan and the UAE.
Gayle disregards Kohli’s form and calls him the ‘Best’
Chris Gayle has disregarded the dwindling batting form of Virat Kohli and believes the Indian batting master can shatter his record in the upcoming 2025 ICC Champions Trophy to become the highest run-maker in the history of the tournament.
Gayle thinks that Kohli is merely going through a bad patch at the moment, and the former Indian captain can pick himself and come up clutch for Team India on the day of reckoning. While speaking with The Times of India, the former West Indies cricketer said:
“It is easy for him to get 200 runs. I don’t know how many games they will play, but I am sure he can get over 200 runs. I am sure he will get a century, so it’s just a matter of time before he goes on to break that record. He is still the best player in the world, regardless of form. Virat is still the best player, the stats prove that. It is one of those we, as cricketers, go through in patches. I know it is coming at the back end of his career as well, but these things happen, so he just needs to pick himself up and come again.”
Chris Gayle tops the run-scoring charts in the Champions Trophy with 791 runs in just 17 innings between the 2002 and 2013 editions of the tournament. Among active players, Virat Kohli, with 529 runs from 12 innings, is the closest cricketer to Gayle’s tally.
Former IPL teammates for the RCB franchise, Gayle and Kohli, share a mutual admiration for each other.
The legendary opening batter also expressed his disappointment over the absence of the West Indies from the Champions Trophy. He added:
“I am disappointed no West Indies in the Champions Trophy, but it is good to have the tournament back, and I am looking forward to it.”
The 2025 ICC Champions Trophy is set to launch on February 19 with a Group A match between New Zealand and co-hosts Pakistan.