Former Pakistan cricketer Basit Ali reckoned that Virat Kohli will score big centuries in the upcoming Test series against Bangladesh and New Zealand. Kohli will made his comeback in the longest format of the game for the first time after January against South Africa earlier this year. Kohli missed out on India’s last Test series against England which was played in India due to the birth of his son.

After that, the former India captain featured in the T20 World Cup 2024 where India won the tournament defeating South Africa in the final which was played at Kennington Oval in Barbados. Kohli scored 151 runs in his eight outings of the marquee event. 

“In the England series, Virat wasn’t there. He didn’t perform well in the Sri Lanka series. But in the Bangladesh and the New Zealand series, you will see big centuries (from Virat). Not 110 or 115, you may see a 200-run knock from him,” Basit said on his YouTube channel.

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India will play two Test matches against Bangladesh which is scheduled to start on September 19, the first match will be played at MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai and Green Park, Kanpur will witness the second clash on September 27. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) have already announced the Indian squad for the first Test match where Yash Dayal gets the maiden call-up. 

After that, team India will host New Zealand for the three-match Test series scheduled to start from October 16. After that, the Rohit Sharma-led side will travel to Australia for the five-Test match series scheduled to start from November 22. In total team, India will play 10 Test matches till January. 

Basit also named his playing XI for the first Test match where he chose Kuldeep over Axar due to Bangladesh’s line-up featuring a good number of left-handed batters.

Basit Ali’s playing XI against Bangladesh

Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj. 

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