Former Indian cricketer Ajay Jadeja on Saturday (9th July) said that if he had to pick the Indian T20I side, Virat Kohli will not find a place in that. Kohli off late has struggled to score runs in all three formats of the game.
Things got even worse for him when he scored just 1 run in the second T20I against England at Edgbaston.
The former Indian skipper replaced in-form Deepak Hooda on the side and many expected him to express himself and return to the form. But that wasn’t the case as he went for wild hoick and fell for just a run.
Calls have been raised to drop Kohli from the T20I side as many feel that he’s blocking the way for youngsters and doesn’t fit in India’s new T20I style of playing.
Read Also: India has set Rishabh Pant free'- Manjrekar says he can imagine him opening on big stage
Speaking to Sony Sports, Ajay Jadeja said Rohit will make the call on how India plays from here on and whether they give opportunities to youngsters or trust the old guards.
"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.
"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 said.
Calling Kohli a special player, Jadeja said that had it been any other player he would probably have been dropped from the side in Tests.
“Virat Kohli is a special player. If it wasn't Virat Kohli, he wouldn't have probably played Test cricket as well. 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,” he said.
Jadeja said that team management has to make a call on whether Kohli fits in the new template of playing aggressive T20I cricket.
Read Also: COC Predicted India Playing XI for the third T20I against England
He added that if he had to take a call then the former Indian skipper won’t fit in his T20I side.
“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.
“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," he said.
India will take on England in the third T20I on Sunday (10th July). The game will hold extreme importance for Kohli as he would want to score some runs and prove all the critics wrong.
(Sony Sports inputs)
