the former India Skipper Virat Kohli’s lean patch has brought him under the scanner as several former cricketers and critics have questioned his place in India’s T20I squad. Rohit Sharma & Co are going through a transitional phase where they have started adopting a fearless approach with the bat in recent times which was missing in the previous squads. with T20 World With the cup coming up in a few months, India are yet to finalize their middle order as they are still trying out different players at different venues.
Kohli, who has been India’s No. 3 in T20Is for a long time, has not been able to score big runs in recent times, raising questions on his T20I batting credentials. Whereas young Deepak Hooda has done well in the limited opportunities he got this year.
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While several former cricketers have advised India to drop Kohli out of T20Is, current captain Rohit Sharma has said that he will continue to support the batting maverick.
The 1983 World Cup-winning great captain raised questions over Kohli’s place in the T20I XI as he said the 33-year-old is not batting at the level he used to.
“Yes, now the situation is such that you may be forced to drop Kohli from the T20 playing XI. If the world number two bowler Ashwin can be dropped from the Test team, then the world number one batsman can also be dropped.
“Virat is not batting at the level we have seen him do over the years. He has earned a name because of his performance but if he is not performing, you cannot keep performing youngsters out of the team,” the World Cup winning captain further added.
Meanwhile, commenting on the ICC’s Instagram post, Khawaja said something that gave an impression that the Australian player did not agree with Dev. The cricketer commented, “Average 50 around 140. Good call, agrees Australia.”
Kohli’s childhood coach Rajkumar Sharma defended the batsman and said that he does not support Kapil’s statements.
“I do not support the statements made by Kapil Dev on Virat Kohli. Nothing big has happened with Virat that such a statement has been issued. Why is there so much rush about Virat, he has done so much good for the country. Scoring 70 international hundreds is no small matter. I don’t think the board will decide to make him sit on the bench,” Rajkumar told ANI.
While former opener Wasim Jaffer also said that Kohli is not sure in India’s T20I squad.
Kohli plays, no doubt about it but his form will be taken into account. His IPL strike rate has not been good. He is not in the best form. Deepak Hooda can give you an option with bowling, which will be considered but not directly. I would say Kohli will get a chance to play a few matches and then maybe the selectors will decide but I don’t think he will be sure because so many young players have done so well. In the last T20 World Cup, strike rate, that approach was questioned and I think we need to keep looking at the future,” Jaffer told ESPNcricinfo.
Kohli had a disappointing time with the bat in the T20I series against England as veteran pacer Venkatesh Prasad also joined the bandwagon of former stars who asked the 33-year-old to be dropped from the T20I squad.
“There was a time when you were out of form, regardless of reputation you were dropped. Sourav, Sehwag, Yuvraj, Zaheer, Bhajji have all been dropped for not being in form. They have gone back to domestic cricket, scored runs and made a comeback,” tweeted Prasad.
“It seems the norms have changed a lot now where there is a rest to be out of form. This is no way to progress. There is so much talent in the country and cannot play with prestige. One of India’s greatest match winners, Anil Kumble sat out on several occasions, needing action for the greater good,” he said.
Former Pakistan spinner Danish Kaneria called Kohli a responsibility in the current Indian T20 team.
“Even when the big guns were out, the team was performing, the youngsters were working. A big player should understand that he is becoming a burden for the team. Virat Kohli Now it has become a responsibility. So either he will have to leave his place or he will have to come back before the T20 World Cup.
Ajay Jadeja said that Kohli’s place in India’s T20I squad is no longer certain, as the team has better options available with it.
“Virat Kohli is a choice you have to make. Do you want to play that solidity on top and then score runs from behind? It is the old style when Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma will bat at the top and you have players like Dhoni where he gets 60 runs in the last four overs,” Jadeja told Soni Play Network.
“It depends on who you want to play. I guess you have a choice, it’s hard to make. If I had to pick a T20 team, Virat might not have been there.
Veteran England spinner Graeme Swann feels that fans and media are putting extra pressure on Kohli which is not working in his favor and he needs to take some rest at the starting asset.
“Maybe when you have a good player like him, if he was English and I was in the English media, I was saying hey, we need to loosen up on that, we need to take the pressure off our star assets. The need is so that he performs instead of putting more undue pressure on him,” Swann said on Sony Sports Network after the third T20I.
“As a player, you will feel the pressure of fans and fans, that you can make it easy for your players or you can make it difficult. If you don’t want Virat Kohli in your team, then by all means keep putting pressure or if you value assets, then go easy on that,” he added.
Former India opener Virender Sehwag also took a dig at Kohli’s poor form in the T20I series against England.
“India have a lot of batsmen who can go ahead from the start, some of them are sitting out unfortunately. There is a need to find a way to play the best available players in current form in T20 cricket. #IndvEng,” tweeted Sehwag.
However, Rohit Sharma hit back at Kohli’s critics after the T20I series against England.
“It is not difficult for us at all (Kohli’s place in the XI) as we do not hear the noise outside. Also, I don’t know who these experts are and why they are called experts. I don’t understand it,” Sharma said, adding, “They are watching from outside, they don’t know what is happening inside the team. We have a thought process, we team up, we debate and discuss it, and think about it a lot. players [we pick] are supported, they are given the opportunity. Outsiders are not aware of this. So it is more important to me what is happening within our team,” Rohit said in the post-match press conference.
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