Batting great Sunil Gavaskar was surprised with BCCI’s decision to rest Virat Kohli for the upcoming third T20I of the ongoing series against the West Indies.
Team India has already taken an unaccessible 2-0 lead in the ongoing T20I series against West Indies. The third and final game of the series is slated to take place today (20th February) in Kolkata.
However, ahead of the match, Virat Kohli along with wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant on Saturday (19th February) was given a bio-bubble break to freshen up and was rested for the last match against West Indies and the upcoming T20I series against Sri Lanka.
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The former Indian skipper looked a class apart in the second T20I against West Indies. Kohli scored 52 runs in 41 balls and also smashed 7 fours and a six in his innings. His knock helped India post a total of 186 on the board and eventually win the match by 8 runs.
Speaking to India Today, Sunil Gavaskar said that he was surprised with Virat Kohli getting rested for the upcoming third T20I against West Indies, especially after his heroics in the second game.
“I was surprised because we were discussing his form of late and then he played a wonderful knock in the last game. It was simply brilliant, those lofted shots over the infield. There were no risks involved in playing shots, but he did so he showed he was in good form,” Sunil Gavaskar said.
Arguing against Kohli getting a rest, Gavaskar said it's always better to let a batter continue playing when he's "in good touch". He remarked that Kohli regained his fluency in the 2nd T20I and should have been given another game to cement that.
“For batters, the thing is when you are in good touch it is better to continue playing as long as possible. Because we have often seen that in one single inning, if a batter scored 40 runs briskly, then gets stuck at the non-striker's end for 1 or 2 overs and then when he returns to bat, he tends to lose that fluency.
“Now that Kohli's fluency has returned with that knock in Kolkata, he has been rested that surprised me. He could have played one more game. For cricket it would be better as it would gear him up for the Test series,” he said.
After the third match against West Indies, India will play Sri Lanka in the three-match T20I series from 24th to 27th March.
(India Today Inputs)
