Former World Cup-winning captain Kapil Dev reckons that now the situation is such that you might be forced to drop Virat Kohli from the T20I playing XI. Kohli has been under-fire in the recent past as he isn’t playing at the top of his game.
The talisman could only manage a solitary run in the second T20I against England at Edgbaston, Birmingham on Saturday after returning to the team after a long time. Moreover, Kohli didn’t have the best of IPL 2022 for Royal Challengers Bangalore as he scored only 341 runs in 16 matches at an average of 22.73 and a strike rate of 115.98.
As players like Deepak Hooda, Shreyas Iyer, and Suryakumar Yadav are knocking down the selection doors with their consistent performances. Moreover, Kohli’s strike rate in the T20 format hasn’t been the best in the recent past.
Kohli has been a consistent performer in the white-ball format for the Indian team as he has scored 3297 runs in 97 T20I matches at an average of 50.72 and a strike rate of 137.55.
Former Indian talisman all-rounder believes if Ravichandran Ashwin could be dropped from the Test team then Kohli can also be left out of the T20I team.
“Yes, now the situation is such that you might be forced to bench Kohli from T20 playing eleven. If world No. 2 bowler Ashwin can be dropped from Test side then (once upon a time) world No. 1 batter can also be dropped,” Kapil told ABP News.
“Virat is not batting at a level which we have seen him do over the years. He has made a name because of his performances but if he isn’t performing, then you can’t keep the performing youngsters out of the team. I want competition for places in team in a positive sense that these youngsters should try and outperform Virat,” Kapil added.
On the other hand, Kohli has been rested for the ODI series against West Indies. Dev, who led India to their first World Cup triumph in 1983, added that some people might call it being rested whereas some may call it being dropped from the squad.
“You can call it rest and someone else will call it dropped. Every person will have his own view. Obviously, if selectors don’t pick him (Kohli), then it could be because a big player isn’t performing,” he observed. “Play in-form players when you have loads of options,” said Kapil.
“You can’t just go by reputation but you have to look for current form. You can be an established player but that doesn’t mean that you will be given chances even if you fail five games in a row,” he concluded.
There is no doubt that Virat Kohli’s number hasn’t declined in the white-ball formats but he hasn’t played at his best in the red-ball version of the game.
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