When he is at the peak of his prowess, it is a delight to watch Rohit Sharma bat. The India captain is possibly the most elegant batter in the sport. There's a reason why Rohit Sharma is called the modern-day David Gower. A few years ago, the England great had himself praised the stylish batter for the grace and sublimity in his batting. However, all these qualities come to the fore when he is in full flight. Unfortunately, Rohit Sharma hasn't been in the best of forms of late. Before arriving in the United Kingdom (UK) for the rescheduled fifth Test, T20I, and ODI series against England, Rohit Sharma had endured a nightmarish Indian Premier League (IPL) season. The Mumbai Indians (MI) skipper couldn't even complete a single fifty in the tournament. Overall, Rohit Sharma made only 248 runs in 14 matches in the elite T20 competition. His average and strike rate weren't impressive either as he concluded the cash-rich league with a batting average of 19.14 while his strike rate was 120.17. Rohit Sharma's recent numbers with the bat have worried many Indian cricketers but few have been critical of the Mumbai-born superstar. The legendary Kapil Dev, however, didn't mince his words as he tore apart Rohit Sharma for taking a break after the IPL. What's more, Kapil Dev also warned Rohit Sharma that if he continued to bat as he did in the IPL, he could even be dropped from the Indian cricket team.
“It's hard to know today who has been rested or asked to be rested. Only selectors will know about this,” Kapil said on the YouTube channel UnCut.
“The player (Rohit) is brilliant, no question about that. But if you don’t score a fifty in 14 matches, questions will be raised, be it Gary Sobers, Don Bradman, Virat Kohli, Sachin Tendulkar, Sunil Gavaskar or Viv Richards. Only Rohit can answer that what's happening. Is it too much (cricket) or has he stopped enjoying it?”
“Players like Rohit and Virat (Kohli) should enjoy the game. How they feel is very important (for their performances),” Kapil Dev added.
“You have to score runs (to get back in form). You cannot go too far based on reputation alone. Eventually, the opportunities will get dried up. How many chances would you need after 14 games? Can't understand why they're rested. If dropped, where they will get a chance to play then? It's quite difficult to see how they play now,” Kapil Dev further said.
“What I feel is that these players need to correct their thinking. I would be happy if they prove me wrong. If you aren't scoring runs, then there's a problem somewhere. Either there's too much cricket or too less. We only see one thing – how you perform. If performance has dropped, then hard to stop people from talking. It's not possible. Your performance and bat should speak. Rest doesn't matter,” the 1983 World Cup-winning India captain pointed out.
Kapil Dev had no words of praise for Virat Kohli either.
Virat Kohli's last century in any format of the game came way back in November 2019 in a Test match against Bangladesh in Kolkata. Since then more than 100 games have passed and he's yet to add to his total of 70 centuries in international cricket.
In the IPL, Virat Kohli once again disappointed his fans, as he could only score 341 runs in 16 games, which came at a meager average of 22.73. Kohli's run in the IPL was a horror show, to say the least as he registered three golden ducks in the same tournament for the first time in his career.
Kapil Dev claimed that there's “some fault” in Virat Kohli's batting technique or possibly he's going through a testing time mentally.
“I haven't played cricket as much as Virat Kohli. But sometimes you may not have played enough cricket but you can look to figure things out. Either that, or we just cannot criticise such great players. We have played cricket and we understand the game and after that, they have to improve their thought process, not ours. If you prove us wrong, we will like it. If you don't score runs, we feel there is some fault. We just see one thing and that's your performance. And if the performance is not there, don't expect people to stay quiet. Your bat and your performance should speak, nothing else,” Kapil Dev opined.
“He (Kohli) is like a hero to us. We used to think if there would come a player who we can compare to Rahul Dravid, Sunil Gavaskar, and Sachin Tendulkar. We never thought like that. Then he (Kohli) emerged onto the scene. Now, the comparison is gone (for the past two years). He will have to address his cricket mentally,” he summed up.
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