Virat Kohli, after having a forgettable IPL 2022 in which he could manage 341 runs in 16 games at an average of 22.73, was rested for the South Africa T20I series at home in June.
Kohli was named in the multi-format tour of England. That tour started with him scoring 31 runs in both innings of the Edgbaston Test, went on with 12 runs in two T20Is, and ended with just 33 runs in two ODIs.
Several former cricketers, including the likes of Aakash Chopra and most recently Sanjay Manjrekar, have voiced their disagreement with the star batter getting rested time and again arguing that the only way for a player to get out of a rut is to play as many games as possible.
Since the T20 World Cup 2021, Kohli has been rested from as many as four series, including those against New Zealand, Sri Lanka, South Africa, and the recently concluded Caribbean tour. He has also not been named in the upcoming three-match ODI series versus Zimbabwe.
On the other hand, the likes of Ricky Ponting, Kevin Pietersen, and most recently West Indies batting great Brian Lara have backed the former Indian captain to rediscover his form soon.
Lara believes the Indian team shouldn't write off Kohli just yet because he will rebound from this dip stronger and better.
“I respect Virat Kohli as a player, and he is going to come out of it as a much better player,” the 53-year-old said.
“He will be learning a lot of things at this point of time. You cannot write him off,” he remarked further.
Lara also talked about the current skipper of the Indian team Rohit Sharma, who recently became the highest run-getter in T20Is after surpassing Martin Guptill.
“He is an unbelievable player. I think lots of Indian years players are very aggressive and Rohit is an amazing player,” Lara said.
The Men in Blue defeated West Indies by 88 runs in the 5th T20I to seal the series 4-1. The team under Sharma's captaincy will next head to the UAE for the Asia Cup 2022, starting August 27.
(NEWS18 INPUTS)
