"Virat Kohli will score heavily this year and he's going to start from here": Uthappa

Former Team India captain Robin Uthappa feels that stalwart Virat Kohli will return among the runs in the Champions Trophy 2025 along with Shubman Gill and Shreyas IyerVirat Kohlis recent form in Test cricket has raised questions about his future But the veteran seems to have no plans of retirement and aims to feature in the ODI World Cup 2027Virat will score heavily this year and I think hes going to start doing that from here I think Virat is there and thereabouts He will be among runs very very soon Uthappa who has played with Kohli for India and RCB told PTI Videos in an exclusive interview on WednesdayI mean the standard of runs that we are used to seeing Virat score So I think its just a matter of time he observedVirat Kohli has been facing criticism for his form in Test cricket of late and barring a hundred in the series opener in Perth he has struggled to get going in the BorderGavaskar Trophy in Australia mostly getting out to balls outside the offstumpThe Men in Blue will begin their Champions Trophy 2025 campaign against BangladeshAlso ReadChampions Trophy 2025 NZ vs PAK Riding high on Young Lathams centuries Kiwis post a target of 321 runsI think Mohammed Shami will be raring to go Hes been out of action for a while and hes just come back into playing Arshdeep Singh will be raring to go as well Hell have some memories that hell want to change here from the last time he played against Pakistan at this venue Uthappa pointed outArshdeep found himself at the receiving end of hatefilled tweets from a section of fans after Pakistans narrow win over India in the Asia Cup Super Four match at this venue in 2022Asked about Indias chances in the tournament Uthappa sounded optimisticOh very good I think its going to be a tournament where it could be potentially the last ICC tournament for Rohit and Virat Potentially as in could not be either but maybe one of the last times youll probably get to see Rohit and Kohli togetherSo you know I think they would want to make it count as would everybody else in the team So I think theyll work very hard to take this one homeIndia may be one of the favourites but Uthappa said they will have their task cut out in their opener against BangladeshOn Indias lung opener he said I dont think it will be a cakewalk I think respect will be given where its due However not a lot of oneday cricket has been played in the recent past here in Dubai So I think tomorrows game will be a lot about gathering a lot of informationIndia is playing all the league matches here So gathering as much information as possible how will the wicket play out what the conditions will be like is it better to chase or bat firstSo I think tomorrow theyll come openminded to gather a lot of information and yet play good cricket and take a win homeTeam India will lock horns with their archrivals Pakistan on March 23I think Pakistan is a very unpredictable side and I think its how they turn up on that particular day They certainly have potential but I dont think they have more potential than the Indian cricket teamI think the potential that we possess as a team individually and as a group is tremendous Despite the fact that we dont have our superstar Jaspreet Bumrah I still think we have enough in our repertoire to be able to beat PakistanUthappa was full of praise for the likes of Gill Iyer and Hardik PandyaI think Shubman again is in some superb form and I also think someone who is in good form is Shreyas Iyer So I think the two of them will play a vital role in taking India forward in this tournamentI think Hardik Jadeja and Axars roles are equally important and I think theyve been fulfilling that role very well They make a formidable allrounder lineup and I think they as well will go out there and do their best Uthappa addedTo conclude the chat he said Arshdeep could be Indias trump card in the tournament I believe so I think India will clinch this oneWith PTI Inputs