Virat Kohli's childhood coach Rajkumar Sharma has lashed out at Kapil Dev after the 1983 World Cup-winning skipper called for his ward's exclusion from India's T20 team. Rajkumar Sharma coached Virat Kohli during his formative years in the West Delhi area of the national capital.

According to Rajkumar Sharma, the legendary captain's remarks were unnecessary, especially at a time when Virat Kohli seemed to have the backing of captain Rohit Sharma and head coach Rahul Dravid.

“I do not support the statements made by Kapil Dev on Virat Kohli. Nothing big happened with Virat that such kind of statement has been issued. Why is there so much hurry with Virat, he has done so well for the country. Making 70 international centuries is not a small thing. I do not think the board will make a decision to have him sit on the bench,” Rajkumar Sharma told news agency ANI.

On Saturday, Virat Kohli returned to India's T20 setup but failed to alter his fortunes despite the change in the format. The former India captain fell for 1 with England fast bowler Richard Gleeson delivering a double-wicket maiden in the seventh over of the Indian essay in the second T20I in Birmingham. Gleeson’s other wicket was Rishabh Pant who opened the innings for India for the first time in T20Is.

Virat Kohli on the other hand, lost his wicket as he tried to hit the ball over the deep midwicket boundary but failed to get enough power behind his shot. He was eventually caught by David Malan in the backward point region as the ball took the outer edge of his bat and went up in the air.

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 to his name which came 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 Edgbaston but couldn't reignite his form as he was dismissed for 11 and 20 in his two knocks there.

Earlier, Kapil Dev had started a massive storm on social media after he declared that just like India dropped Ravichandran Ashwin from the Test side, Virat Kohli should be benched and not given a chance to represent the country in the T20Is.

The former talismanic all-rounder even suggested that instead of Virat Kohli, India should give opportunities to youngsters who have more enthusiasm and want to prove themselves on the big stage.

“Yes, now the situation is such that you might be forced to bench Kohli from T20 playing eleven. If world No. 2 bowler Ashwin can be dropped from Test side then (once upon a time) world No. 1 batter can also be dropped,” Kapil Dev told ABP News.

“Virat is not batting at a level which we have seen him do over the years. He has made a name because of his performances but if he isn’t performing, then you can’t keep the performing youngsters out of the team. I want competition for places in team in a positive sense that these youngsters should try and outperform Virat,” Kapil Dev further said.

“You can call it rest and someone else will call it dropped. Every person will have his own view. Obviously, if selectors don’t pick him (Kohli), then it could be because a big player isn’t performing,” Kapil Dev observed.

“Play in-form players when you have loads of options,” said Kapil. “You can’t just go by reputation but you have to look for current form. You can be an established player but that doesn’t mean that you will be given chances even if you fail five games in a row.”

Even former India batter Ajay Jadeja had supported Kapil Dev and called for Virat Kohli’s removal from the national T20 team.

“You have been shown that there is another way of playing the same game. You are still scoring around 180 to 200. It’s not that the game has changed, but you have a choice of how you want to play. I think Rohit Sharma will be making that call,” Ajay Jadeja told Sony Sports.

“I think anyone who is leading the side has only two choices. That’s the way I see it. Either you stick to the way you have been playing, give opportunities to youngsters or you go back to your old team that played before you started trying to give opportunities,” Ajay Jadeja added.

“Virat Kohli is a special player. If it wasn’t Virat Kohli, he wouldn’t have probably playing Test cricket as well,” he elaborated.

“You look at the numbers and say ‘oh, over the last 8, 10 matches, he hasn’t scored a hundred’. But you don’t leave him out just because he hasn’t scored a hundred. You don’t leave him out because of what he is done in the past,” Ajay Jadeja stated.

“Virat Kohli is a choice that you have to make. Do you want to play that solidity at the top and then get runs right at the back? It’s that old-style when Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma will bat at the top and you would have players like Dhoni where they get 60 in the last 4 overs,” he pointed out.

“It depends on whom you want to play. I feel you have a choice, it’s a tough one to make. If I had to pick a T20 side, Virat probably won’t be there,” Ajay Jadeja concluded.