Former Indian skipper, Virat Kohli has been witnessing a rough patch with his batting. Having once had a reputation for his uncanny knack of scoring centuries at will and now, his century drought has extended to a span of almost 3 years now. Even on the occasions when he has looked in good rhythm, bowlers have found ways to exploit the shortcomings in his otherwise airtight batting technique and send him back to the pavilion.
In the recently-concluded rescheduled Test against England, where Virat Kohli lost his wicket playing an inside edge against Matty Potts in the first innings. But the dismissal was different from the recent troubles Kohli has had while facing out swinging deliveries. A lot of people have suggested that Kohli needs to go on a sabbatical and he has even acknowledged that oftentimes, he has felt somewhat overcooked with responsibilities.
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During an IPL 2022 game, Virat Kohli said, “The amount of cricket that I have played, and the ups and downs and the toll that it takes on you to play three formats of the game plus the IPL for 10-11 years non-stop with the seven years of captaincy in between. So to take a break and when to take a break is obviously something that I need to take a call on, but it is only a healthy decision for anyone to take some time off and just rejuvenate yourself mentally and physically.”
However, according to the latest reports, Virat Kohli has voluntarily asked the Indian selectors to give him rest from the upcoming 5-match T20I series against the West Indies. Furthermore, this will most likely be Kohli’s last ‘break’ from international cricket in a long time, and he has conveyed that he will be available for all series after the West Indies tour.
Virat Kohli has himself asked for a break or rest for the T20I series against West Indies. And he has informed that he will be available for all series after the West Indies tour. (According to PTI)
— CricketMAN2 (@ImTanujSingh) July 7, 2022
One can easily conclude that Virat Kohli won’t be featuring in any part of the West Indies tour that starts on 22 July. He and several other senior Indian cricketers like Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Rishabh Pant, and Mohammed Shami had already been rested from the ODI leg of the tour. But this break from the T20Is means that Kohli might miss T20I cricket until the beginning of the Asia Cup that is likely to be played in August in Sri Lanka.
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It will be interesting to see the consequences should Virat Kohli takes a rest from the West Indies T20Is. As it is, on the basis of his current form, several cricketers are competing with him for a top-order spot in India’s T20I team.
