There was a time when India talisman Virat Kohli used to make hundreds for fun. A prime Virat Kohli was a sight to behold. However, all those glorious cover drives, wristy flicks, and short-arm pulls have long vanished and he's struggling to even score 30s and 40s. During the recent tour of England, the Delhi-born batter managed to make only 76 runs in six outings across the three formats. His last hundred in international cricket came 32 months ago in November 2019 in the historic Pink-ball Test against Bangladesh at the iconic Eden Gardens in Kolkata. Against this backdrop, Virat Kohli's place in the Indian cricket team has been questioned by several former cricketers but Kapil Dev's comments caused quite a stir in the cricket-crazy nation. At a time when his wretched run with the bat continues to spark huge debates, former captain of the Indian women's team, the legendary Anjum Chopra has thrown her weight behind Virat Kohli, claiming the modern-day great will be back at his best soon.
“Virat Kohli himself knows what he needs. When you do not score as per your standards, you practice more. I am sure that he is practicing, is doing, and will keep doing everything to get back in form. The way international cricket goes, practice is the only way out,” Anjum Chopra said in an interview with news agency ANI.
“A player can only try and make the effort. And a player like him must be trying and trying to get out of the slump. But sometimes, things do not go your way. The kind of adulation and focus he has had on him over the years, this dip was bound to happen sometime,” Anjum Chopra added.
“I have seen players scoring 30s and 40s and surviving in the Indian team for years. But from his bat, the 30s and 40s look less because of the standard he has set for himself. I am sure that it will be a matter of time that he will be back among runs for the Indian team,” Anjum Chopra pointed out.
Like Anjum Chopra, Ajit Agarkar had disagreed with Kapil Dev's comments as he dubbed Virat Kohli the match-winner India needed to win the T20 World Cup in Australia later this year.
“He is getting starts. At the moment, he is finding new ways to get out. He knows how to score runs. At the moment, he is going through a lean patch, which is a fact of life for every great player. Hopefully, for India’s sake, he gets back to form soon as there is a 50-over World Cup next year,” Ajit Agarkar told FanCode.
“He has got a bit of time till the World Cup. But you don’t want a great player like Virat Kohli to be out of form for long. Even in England, he got a couple of starts, but I don’t think he has looked at his best. That’s why everyone is a little bit worried. Sometimes, great players find a way after they get started, but at the moment, he is not,” Ajit Agarkar added.
“I am sure there’s a little bit of worry. There’s a lot of talk about ‘Virat Kohli ko replace karle’, I think it’s not fair,” Agarkar noted.
The Mumbai-born retired cricketer is of the view that comparing Virat Kohli with young players who are producing one great performance after another for the Men in Blue is unfair. Ajit Agarkar emphasized that unlike India's youth brigade Virat Kohli had a truckload of experience playing in Australia, and the Indian team management can trust him to deliver there.
“No doubt that. That’s why I am saying it’s premature (talks about replacing Virat). He is not getting runs, a few other players are performing, but come the World Cup in Australia, if India are 2 down, you want Virat Kohli in form, but you want Virat Kohli batting there. Because he knows how to bat under pressure on the big stages,” Ajit Agarkar said about Kapil Dev's harsh criticism of Virat Kohli.
“We have got some excellent young players who are doing well, but that doesn’t mean you have to suddenly start questioning Virat Kohli. In World Cups, you need top players, you need experience. Hopefully, before that, he will get some runs. Once the confidence is there, he will find the Australian conditions the best to bat,” Agarkar concluded.
Earlier this month, the 1983 World Cup-winning captain had caused ripples by suggesting in an interview that it was time to drop Virat Kohli from India's 50-over and T20 sides.
“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 further said.
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