Virat Kohli's dry run with the bat has continued to hog the limelight in India's cricketing circles and has even divided opinion among former cricketers. While the likes of Kapil Dev, Karsan Ghavri, and Aakash Chopra want him to be sacked from Team India's T20 side and have voiced their opinion against his inclusion in the squad for the T20 World Cup in Australia, many have come out in his support, including the legendary Sunil Gavaskar, Ashish Nehra, Shoaib Akhtar, Babar Azam, Jos Buttler, and even India skipper Rohit Sharma. The latest to join the Virat Kohli supporters group is another icon of the Indian cricket team, and he's none other than 1983 World Cup winner Syed Kirmani.

According to Syed Kirmani, Virat Kohli's spot in Team India is not under threat as of right now because he has got the backing of both captain Rohit Sharma and head coach Rahul Dravid. Additionally, everybody knows what he is capable of and in places like Australia where you need the experience to succeed, Virat Kohli has loads of it as he has been there several times before.

Syed Kirmani also reckons that once Virat Kohli overcomes his current lean patch, he will be “unstoppable” because a player of his caliber will then continue to shine on the pitch.

Describing Virat Kohli as a game-changer, Syed Kirmani claimed that the Delhi-born cricketer has won numerous matches for India, and that's why he should be on the flight to Australia.

“Virat Kohli has loads of experience. He should be in the T20 World Cup squad. Once Kohli returns to form, he will be unstoppable. He could be a game-changer. A player with Kohli's experience and abilities deserves to be in the World Cup squad,” Syed Kirmani told Dainik Jagran.

“There is a tough competition in the Indian team. Look, if someone else was going through the rough patch which Kohli is, he would have been dropped from the team by now. But I feel that an established player should be given the benefit of the doubt,” Syed Kirmani added.

Earlier, Syed Kirmani's 1983 World Cup-winning teammate Sunil Gavaskar had offered to help Virat Kohli whose century-less streak has now extended to 968 days and 78 innings across formats in international cricket.

On Sunday, Virat Kohli lost his wicket after an off-stump delivery from Reece Topley took the outside edge of his bat, and England wicketkeeper Jos Buttler did the rest to catch him behind the wickets.

Sunil Gavaskar, however, feels that if Virat Kohli spends just 20 minutes with him, he will be able to turn around the fortunes of the talismanic batter as he knows where the Delhi-born cricket star is faltering at the moment.

Virat Kohli has been falling for the off-side trap far too often. In his last two knocks in the ODIs against England at the Lord's and Old Trafford, he lost his wicket while chasing deliveries bowled wide on the off-stump.

Knowing that Virat Kohli isn't in good nick, bowlers, especially the pacers bowl balls a little wide outside his off-stump, and more often than not he tends to fall for such balls, and generally edges them behind the wicket either to the wicketkeeper or in the slips.

“If I had about 20 minutes with him, I would be able to tell him the things he might have to do. It might help him, I am not saying it will help him but it could, particularly with regards to that off-stump line,” Sunil Gavaskar told India Today.

“Having been an opening batter, having been troubled by that line, there are certain things that you try and do. If I get 20 minutes with him, I might be able to tell him,” Sunil Gavaskar added.

“It goes back to the fact that his first mistake turns out to be his last. Again, just because he is not amongst the runs, there is this anxiety to play at every delivery because that is what batters feel, they have got to score. You look to play at deliveries that you otherwise won’t. But he has gotten out to good deliveries as well on this particular tour,” he explained.

“I think we just have to wait and see when he comes back, whether it helps or not helps. As I said, he is allowed a few failures, look at his record for India, 70 international hundreds. I mean, he has got runs in all formats of the game, in all conditions,” Sunil Gavaskar further said.

“Let's be patient, let's not rush things. We, somehow in India, hurry once a player reaches 32, 33, we all the time, look to push him out of the team when they have so much more to contribute. Let's be patient with Kohli as well. All these greats who have served Indian cricket are allowed a few failures,” Sunil Gavaskar signed off.