Virat Kohli and Andy Flower worked closely during their stints with the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) recently. However, following India’s T20 World Cup 2024 triumph, Kohli announced his retirement from T20 Internationals (T20I). Flower says Kohli’s retirement surprised him a little bit.

“I was a little surprised. I really enjoyed working with Virat in the IPL last season. I have the utmost respect for him, obviously as a player, but also the way he supported Faf du Plessis, myself, and Mo Bobat, the director of cricket,” Flower said in a chat with Times of India. 

“He is a brilliant role model. He is an outstanding professional sportsperson. He looks after himself really well. He is disciplined without being robotic. He laughs and has fun, has a cheeky sense of humour and takes the mickey out of people. He always mixes in with team gatherings, and he is very approachable. He has a very good cricket brain and can think out of the box, too.”

Who will take the mantle over from greats like Kohli? Flower believes India already has readymade talents who can take them forward for years to come. “There are readymade replacements for the guys who’ve retired, even though they are genuinely great cricketers,” Flower said. 

“The strong domestic structure in India means there will always be readymade replacements. It’s certainly nothing to be scared of. India will keep producing these greats. There is always someone ready to come in. Whenever some of the great cricketers have retired, you think they won’t be and cannot be replaced. But people move on very quickly. All eyes adjust and focus on the next talent that comes along.”

Flower has singled out Yashasvi Jaiswal, Riyan Parag, and Shubman Gill, among others, as players to watch out for in the series against Zimbabwe.

“[Yashasvi] Jaiswal didn’t play a single match in the T20 World Cup, but he is an incredible option. Shubman Gill, by his standards, had a quiet IPL, but he looks a very intelligent player. He plays in a similar way to Virat Kohli,” Flower noted. 

“I’m looking forward to Abhishek Sharma performing. I really like the look of Dhruv Jurel. Watching him in the Test series against England, he did brilliantly. Riyan Parag has the swagger that you need in international cricket.”

India succumbed to a 13-run defeat in the first T20I against Zimbabwe on July 6 (Saturday). They have a chance to bounce back quickly when the two teams clash in the second game of the series on July 7 (Sunday) in Harare.

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