Former Team India’s World Cup-winning captain Kapil Dev gave a huge statement about former India captain and one of the best batters Virat Kohli, who has been going through a lean patch for quite some time now. The veteran has also stated that when ace off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin can be dropped, then Kohli could be dropped also from the Indian team. Since November 2019, Virat Kohli hasn’t scored a single century in international cricket across formats.
On the other hand, India’s newbies like Deepak Hooda, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer are already in the mix and they are doing quite well too. And, it is tougher for Virat Kohli to seal the place in the playing eleven, especially with the Men’s T20 World Cup happening in Australia in October-November this year as well.
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“Now the situation is such that you might be forced to bench Kohli from the T20 playing XI. He will have to perform better. If world No. 2 bowler Ashwin can be dropped from Test side, then (the) world No. 1 batter can also be dropped. Virat Kohli has still a lot of ability and talent. You hope such a player comes back (into form). It’s not as if you completely leave him out. If he isn’t performing now, it’s fine (to leave him out). Youngsters are playing well. But the day Virat scores runs, can you keep him out? If you can keep Ashwin out, you can keep anyone out,” said Kapil Dev to ABP News.
While talking further about Virat Kohli’s poor form and the rising competition from young cricketers, Kapil Dev shared his views as well. He also stated that he didn’t like the fact that Indian players were being rested constantly which can cause their performance as well.
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“At the moment, Virat is not batting at a level which we have seen him do over the years. He has made a legendary name for himself because of his performances. But if he isn’t performing, you can’t continue to keep these boys (young players) out. I hope there is a healthy fight for selection; the youngsters should look to outperform Virat Kohli. But Kohli needs to think, ‘yes, at one point I was a big player, but I need to play like that No. 1 player again’. That’s a problem for the team which is not a bad one. You can call it rest and someone else will call it dropped, it depends on what a human being thinks. 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 and youngsters are doing that,” Kapil Dev concluded.
