Former India cricketer Ajay Jadeja has said that given that he is the senior one, Sachin Tendulkar should call Virat Kohli and offer help to get him out of his prolonged rotten form with the bat. This comes after Kohli failed to cross the 20-run mark in any of his innings across the rescheduled fifth Test, two T20Is, and the last night's ODI against England.
Kohli hit three boundaries and looked good for more at Lord’s in the second ODI, but delivery outside off stump proved to be his undoing, and fans and experts were left wondering if this is the downfall of one of the greatest modern-era batters.
Kohli has been rested for the T20I series against West Indies, meaning the third ODI against England on Sunday will be Kohli's last international appearance at least until late August.
India went on to lose the second ODI by 100 runs and post-match Ajay Jadeja said that the one thing Kohli can now do is to give India great Sachin Tendulkar a call. Kohli had done the same after his poor outing in the 2014 England tour.
“I said this 8 months ago when we were talking about this. I said the only man who can relate to what Virat Kohli is going through is Tendulkar. The only man who he should give a call and say, 'let's have a drink together. Have a nice meal'. Because who else, since starting at age 14 or 15, never had a bad patch? Only moved forward, and reached the heights Tendulkar had reached?” Jadeja said in the post-match show on Sony SIX.
In fact, Jadeja said that it should be the other way round and Tendulkar should call up Kohli and offer help.
“So, I can't think of anyone else, because I believe that everything is in the mind. So, he is a call away from Tendulkar. I hope even if Virat doesn't call... it's actually Sachin who should give him a call. Sometimes, young people are in that phase. When you are older, since you have been through that, it's your duty to make that call. I hope Master does that,” Jadeja further said.
The ODI series is leveled 1-1 and the tiebreaker will be played on July 17 in Manchester.
