Virat Kohli's absence from India's tour of the West Indies has been slammed by several former cricketers, including the legendary Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev, and Karsan Ghavri. Now former India captain Dilip Vengsarkar has slammed the national selectors for their decision to rest Virat Kohli from matches in the Caribbean, especially at a time when his lean patch has shown no signs of ending.

“I don't understand why the Indian selectors have rested him for the West Indies series. If he is in their scheme of things for the T20 World Cup in Australia, he should play as many games as possible to get his form and confidence back. That would help him,” Dilip Vengsarkar told Khaleej Times.

“Resting him sends a wrong signal because if he is going to Australia, then he will go without really big scores behind him. That would worry him as well. I always feel that when you are not scoring runs, it’s important to play as many matches as possible and spend time in the middle, and get back among the runs. This game is all about confidence,” Dilip Vengsarkar added.

Widely regarded as one of the greatest all-format players of all time, 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.

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.

Virat Kohli is currently holidaying in Paris with his actress wife Anushka Sharma.

Before Dilip Vengsarkar, former India pacer Karsan Ghavri lashed out at Virat Kohli for taking a break from games against the West Indies.

Ghavri even suggested that Kohli probably has taken the break to fulfill his commercial commitments and may shoot a few advertisements during his time away from cricket.

“How much rest do Virat and Rohit need? How long did Virat bat in the Test match? Playing for India should be their number one priority. You should shoot for advertisements during the IPL, not while playing for India. You cannot ask for frequent breaks in the name of workload management,” Karsan Ghavri said in an interview with Sportskeeda.

“Players should be selected on merit. Virat has made India proud on many occasions, but drop him if he’s not in form. It’s as simple as that,” Karsan Gavri added.

“Bring in the guys who are in form. Virat Kohli is a big name, but where are the runs? How long can you play based on your past reputation? He’s still stuck on 27 Test centuries. Meanwhile, Joe Root has now surpassed him despite lagging behind until recently,” Karsan Ghavri pointed out.

Former India selector Sarandeep Singh too slammed both the Indian cricket board and Virat Kohli, questioning why a player who has been woefully out of form has been given a break a couple of months ahead of the T20 World Cup in Australia.

Virat Kohli has taken several breaks from international cricket this year. While he chose to skip the limited-overs leg of the home series against Sri Lanka and West Indies before the IPL, Virat Kohli then opted for rest from the five T20Is against South Africa in India.

During the current tour of England, Virat Kohli didn’t feature in the first games of both the T20I and ODI series due to fitness issues.

“I do not understand what is the meaning of rest? You can only rest if you are scoring 100s. We can understand if he is playing for the last 3 months, has scored 4/5 100s, he has got the liberty to take rest, and then he can say he needs rest,” Sarandeep Singh told NDTV.

“Even before IPL, he played 2 Test matches, did not play ODIs and T20Is. Then after IPL, he did not play the T20Is against South Africa. Sitting out and resting will not help you to get back in form,” Sarandeep Singh further added.

Virat Kohli could be back in action next month during India's tour to Zimbabwe as several reports in the Indian press suggested that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is keen to send the out-of-form cricketer to the African country.