It’s common for a cricketer to hit a rough patch at some point in his career. But when the cricketer is Virat Kohli and the slump in form doesn’t end sooner, it leads to endless discussion and debates. His lack of runs and inconsistency has put him under the scanner for over two years. Since his last international century against Bangladesh in 2019, the former India captain is struggling to play a big knock.
While the fans and experts are wondering when will Kohli rediscover his lost batting mojo, wrist-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal has backed his former skipper amid the stretch of three years without an international century.
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Speaking with YouTube channel Sports Yaari, Chahal highlighted the contributions made by Kohli in the last 14 years. He added that people are just focusing on his tons but not on his capabilities and calibre.
“If there is someone who has 50+ average in T20Is, he has been the Man Of The Tournament in two T20 World Cups, he has 70 hundreds across all formats. You just see his average across all formats, the problem is we just think about his 100s, we don’t talk about those valuable contributions of 60-70 because of the standards he has set,” Chahal said in a chat with Sports Yaari.
“If he is there at the crease and has 15-20 runs behind him, I am telling you no bowler wants to bowl to him,” he added.
After making his debut under MS Dhoni, Chahal has so far played under several captains including Virat and Rohit Sharma. But what remains the same is the liberty he gets while bowling on the field.
“My role has always been the same under different captains, they always use me as a wicket-taking bowler. For me, they are all same. I have gotten the liberty as a bowler. They always prefer what I want to do. Sometimes Rohit bhaiya asks me this is the situation, what will you do? As a bowler, you know, you cannot be relaxed in any over,” Chahal said.
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