Former cricketers Shoaib Akhtar and Harbhajan Singh expressed concerns about the poor form of Indian batters Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma.
Virat and Rohit have been two of the finest cricketers going around in the world currently. It’s fair to say that the duo has single-handedly carried the Indian team on their shoulders for the last decade and is still going strong.
They are one of the main reasons behind Team India being dominant in all three formats of the game. But their form in recent times has been a cause of concern with T20 World Cup 2022 around the corner. The duo looked completely out of touch in the recently concluded IPL 2022.
While Rohit scored 268 runs in 14 matches at an average of 19.14, Kohli on the other hand scored 341 runs at an average of 22.73 in the same number of matches. Notably, they both also registered multiple ducks in the tournament.
Speaking to Sportskeeda, Shoaib Akhtar said that both Kohli and Rohit will be under pressure to maintain their form in the ongoing stage of their career as pressure keeps on mounting. He cited the example of Sachin Tendulkar, saying that even the batting great faced criticism for not scoring a century in the latter part of his career.
“It is yet to be seen if this will be the last IPL or the last World Cup for Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma but, there will be pressure on them to maintain their form. In the latter part of the career, the pressure keeps on mounting. For instance, Sachin was constantly asked about being unable to score a hundred,” Shoaib Akhtar said.
Talking about the same, Harbhajan Singh also expressed his concern about Rohit and Kohli’s form, saying that he hopes the stalwarts of the Indian cricket team lead the side to the T20 World Cup win later this year.
“They did not have a good IPL season. They will be hoping that they lead the team to a win in the T20 World Cup. With the next generation coming up, it can’t be said for certain which player will get opportunities,” Harbhajan Singh said.
Both Rohit and Kohli have been rested for the upcoming T20I series against South Africa. They both, however, will be part of the squad that will travel to England for the Test match, which will be played in July.
(Sportskeeda inputs)
