Virat Kohli didn't feature in India's first ODI triumph against England at The Oval in London on Tuesday. The out-of-form star India batter had suffered a groin injury in the final T20I at Trent Bridge and was forced to sit out the game in the British capital. However, more than his injury, it is the lack of runs from his bat that has been a major worry for the Indian team. While captain Rohit Sharma has publicly backed Virat Kohli, several former cricketers are of the view that the Delhi-born cricketer should be dropped from the Indian team and asked to play domestic cricket to get his lost touch back. Earlier, 1983 World Cup-winning captain Kapil Dev's remarks had caused a storm on social media after he spoke in favor of Virat Kohli's exclusion from India's T20 side. But Kapil Dev is not alone in slamming Virat Kohli in recent times, with Syed Kirmani and Venkatesh Prasad latest to join the group of his bashers.

For the record, Virat Kohli last made a century in any form of international cricket in the historic Pink-ball Test against Bangladesh in November 2019.

Coming back to his recent performances, Virat Kohli had a woeful run in the Indian Premier League (IPL) as he could manage to score only 341 runs at a dismal average of 22.73 in 16 games.

After the IPL, Virat Kohli donned India’s white shirt in the rescheduled fifth and fifth final Test against England at Birmingham but couldn’t reignite his form as he was dismissed for 11 and 20 in his two knocks there.

Virat Kohli then featured in two T20I games against England but could only register scores of 1 and 11 in his two innings at Edgbaston and Trent Bridge.

“Obviously, there is so much of competition in this current era. If you are not performing in a few innings, irrespective of however experienced you might be, the selection committee takes a call and says, ‘That’s it. Go back to domestic cricket, come back to form and then we will see if we can fit you back into the Indian team'. Don't see why that can't apply to Virat Kohli,” Syed Kirmani told India Today.

Meanwhile, Venkatesh Prasad quoted examples of former India greats Virender Sehwag, Sourav Ganguly, Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh, and Zaheer Khan all faced the axe from the national team after they suffered a prolonged slump in form.

“There was a time when you were out of form, you would be dropped irrespective of reputation,” Venkatesh Prasad wrote on Twitter. “Sourav, Sehwag, Yuvraj, Zaheer, Bhajji all have been dropped when not in form. They have went back to domestic cricket, scored runs and staged a comeback.”

“The yardsticks seem to have changed drastically now, where there is rest for being out of form. This is no way for progress. There is so much talent in the country and cannot play on reputation. One of India’s greatest match-winner, Anil Kumble sat out on so many occasions, need action’s for the larger good,” he added.

https://twitter.com/venkateshprasad/status/1546187187779403776

However, former India captain Sunil Gavaskar and India leg-spinner Amit Mishra who has played with Virat Kohli, said that the talismanic batter should be given more chances as he was a quality player and can single-handedly win matches for the country.

“We can say that he is not in form currently but he has created such a reputation, has performed so much and won so many games that it is important to back him. As a player, he is a match-winner and has always stepped up to the occasion in difficult circumstances. Like junior, sometimes seniors also need the same support. So keep that faith and make sure he does not lose that confidence,” Amit Mishra said.

“See, I cannot understand that when Rohit Sharma does not score runs no one talks about it. It is the same with other players as well. There is a saying that form is temporary, class is temperament. See, the kind of template they are adopting (in T20Is) where they have to swing the bat from ball one, you will succeed and fail,” Sunil Gavaskar told Sports Tak.

“We have a good selection committee which is thinking about it. I think there is enough time (more than two months) to announce the squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup 2022. There will be several competitive Asian countries participating in the event. You will have to pick your team keeping in mind the form of a player. There is no need to panic yet and we need to give them some time,” the 73-year-old former batting stalwart added.

“I think the ODI series has come at the right time. It suits his natural game. Like in Test cricket, there is enough time to settle down. In ODI cricket too the batter can play himself in according to the conditions,” Sunil Gavaskar opined.