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Ex-Pakistan cricketer Danish Kaneria has warned Virat Kohli that the upcoming Asia Cup tournament is crucial for resurrecting his career and he must deliver in the UAE to see himself being dropped from Team India.
Danish Kaneria was also critical of Virat Kohli's frequent breaks from international cricket and pointed out that having missed India's recent tour of the West Indies and the ODIs against Zimbabwe would mean that the 33-year-old cricket star will arrive in the Asia Cup without much match play.
According to the former Pakistan leg spinner, the talismanic India batter's lack of match practice could impact his rhythm in the tournament and end up jeopardizing his chances of making it into the T20 World Cup squad later this year.
Notably, after the Indian Premier League (IPL) Virat Kohli has only appeared for the Rohit Sharma-led side in England, where he played six innings without much success and the Asia Cup will only be his second assignment in the blue jersey since then.
“The only thing is Virat Kohli is struggling and the time period has gone too far. It's like three years and all the dilemma. After the 2021 T20 World Cup, he lost his captaincy (in ODIs) and then the board issues and statements came in the media. Too much happened. I think he needs to focus more on cricket, on his batting and if he wants to play for a few more years he needs to perform,” Danish Kaneria told India Today.
“I think he has done wrong by missing international matches. He should have skipped some IPL games but should not have skipped international cricket because international cricket could have brought him back into the form. The five T20Is against West Indies were crucial for him and he should have come up and played in that series,” the former Pakistan spinner added.
“Lack of match practice could impact his performance (at Asia Cup). He hasn't played after the England series. Maybe he could have played domestic cricket in England to get his form back. He will be coming fresh now at Asia Cup. From there we have to see whether he will be able to perform or not. It will be a big pressured game for him. I'm hoping for him to come and put on a big show on a big day with big runs,” Danish Kaneria elaborated.
Kaneria believes that Kohli is not just under pressure because of his poor form but due to India's bench strength that includes the likes of Deepak Hooda and Shreyas Iyer who have performed exceptionally well whenever they have got the opportunity to feature in the playing XI.
“Why is Virat's name coming up? It is because there are a bunch of cricketers coming. India is thinking of making a second national team and playing them at the international level. They have Suryakumar (Yadav), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Rahul Tripathi and KL Rahul coming back from injury. So many players to fit in and everybody is performing so well,” Danish Kaneria concluded.
Virat Kohli has been going through an extended dry spell with the bat. During the recent tour of England, the former India captain managed to score just 76 runs in his six outings in a Test match, and two ODIs and T20Is each.
While he perished at scores of 11 and 20 in the rescheduled fifth and final Test against the Three Lions in Edgbaston, Virat Kohli was dismissed for 1 and 11 in the T20I games in Birmingham and Trent Bridge.
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Though he missed the first clash of the ODI series because of a groin injury, he didn't succeed in changing his fortunes in the remaining two 50-over matches as he registered a total of 33 runs, making 16 and 17 at the Lord's and Old Trafford respectively.
Before that, Virat Kohli had a horror run in the Indian Premier League (IPL) as he could score only 341 runs at a mediocre average of 22.73 in 16 games in the tournament.
Virat Kohli last made a century in any form of international cricket in the historic Pink-ball Test against Bangladesh in November 2019.
Since then, he has gone 78 consecutive knocks without a three-figure score on the international stage.
The former India captain missed the national team's recent tour of the West Indies and is not a part of the KL Rahul-led side which is currently in Zimbabwe.
Kohli will be back in action later this month during the Asia Cup.
The continental tournament begins in the United Arab Emirates on August 27 with India opening their campaign against arch-rivals Pakistan the following day.
