India cricket star Virat Kohli's form has been one of the biggest talking points in world cricket right now. Several former players have shared their views on the matter – while some have suggested he should be dropped from the Indian cricket team, many current greats of the game, including Rohit Sharma, Babar Azam, Jos Buttler, and Sunil Gavaskar have backed him to find his lost touch soon. Meanwhile, there is another section of ex-cricketers who have advised him to take some time away from cricket. Earlier, former England captain Michael Vaughan suggested that Virat Kohli should go on a beach vacation and the latest to ask him to take a break from cricket is ex-Pakistan leg-spinner, Mushtaq Ahmed.
According to Pakistan great Mushtaq Ahmed, Virat Kohli should rest for at least three-four months and miss at least one series against a major opposition side to rejuvenate himself.
Pakistan's Mushtaq Ahmed is of the view that a long break from cricket would revitalize Virat Kohli and he would be able to begin afresh. More importantly, the time away from cricket would recharge his batteries mentally.
“In such a situation, Virat Kohli will have to skip a big series. He has to take a 3-4 month break from cricket. When I used to be dropped, or even rested and watched my teammates on television, it affected my mindset positively. You become more intense in your training,” Mushtaq Ahmed told Cricket Pakistan.
“If Virat returns after three months, he would forget that he has scored 27 centuries in Tests or 40+ centuries in ODIs. Then, he would make a fresh start and the concentration levels will go high. When someone is hungry, they would relish the food even more. It's the same with cricket. When you come back after 3-4 months, your energy level and mindset would be completely changed,” the former Pakistan tweaker Mushtaq Ahmed added.
Earlier, Kapil Dev added fuel to the fire over Virat Kohli’s “rest” from India’s upcoming tour of the West Indies where the Rohit Sharma-led side is set to participate in three ODIs and five T20Is.
The official word from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is that the star batter has been given a break from matches against the West Indies, but Kapil Dev suggests otherwise.
Virat Kohli suffered a groin injury in the final T20I against England at Trent Bridge and subsequently missed the first ODI against the Jos Buttler-led side at The Oval in London.
Nonetheless, the 33-year-old cricket star made his return in the next match at Lord’s but failed to find his rhythm as he got out for a score of 16. He’s now set to feature in the third ODI against England at Old Trafford in Manchester.
Before Virat Kohli joined the Rohit Sharma-led Team India in the second ODI, he featured in two T20I games against England but could only register scores of 1 and 11 in his innings at Edgbaston and Trent Bridge respectively.
Virat Kohli also took part in the fifth and fifth final Test against the Three Lions at Birmingham but couldn’t reignite his form as he was dismissed for 11 and 20 in his two knocks there.
In total, Virat Kohli has now gone 964 days and 77 innings without a century in international cricket with his last hundred coming against Bangladesh in the historic Pink-ball Test in Kolkata in 2019.
“I can’t say a big player like Virat Kohli should be dropped. He is a very big player. If you have said that he has been rested to give him respect then there’s no harm in that,” Kapil Dev told ABP News.
“The most important part is how to bring such a player back in form? He’s not an ordinary cricketer. He should get more practice and play more matches to get his form back. I don’t think there’s any player in this world who is bigger than Kohli in T20s but when you are not doing well, the selectors can take their call. My thinking is that if anybody is not doing well then he can be rested or dropped,” Kapil Dev added.
“It’s not like India haven’t played without Virat in the last five to six years, but I want such a player to be back in form. Yes, he’s been dropped or rested but there’s still a lot of cricket left in him. And he has to create the path for that. Maybe play Ranji Trophy or score runs anywhere. His confidence needs to be back. This is the difference between a great and a good player. A great player like him shouldn’t take so much time to get back in form. He has to fight with himself and get things in order. Yes, it’s a bit of a concern that he is taking so much time to get back in form, a great player doesn’t take this long,” Kapil Dev continued.
“I don’t have any problems if he is dropped or rested but I want him to get back in form. One innings can change a great player’s fortune but when will that come, we don’t know. We are waiting for two years for that,” he concluded.
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