Former India speedster Ashish Nehra has said that he is happy that Virat Kohli was not picked for the T20I series which will be played in West Indies and has gotten a break from cricket. Kohli is currently in England where he has failed to pass the 20-run mark in all the matches he has played.
His latest outing was in the second ODI between England and India at Lord’s and despite a good start, Kohli fell for 16 runs after chasing a ball outside off-stump and falling to David Willey. India lost the match by 100 runs and the three-match series was leveled 1-1.
Meanwhile, on Thursday, the BCCI announced the 18-member India squad for the five T20Is against West Indies to be played in the Caribbean and the USA. The squad was missing Yuzvendra Chahal, Virat Kohli and Jasprit Bumrah, as well as Umran Malik.
Speaking on Sony Sports after the second ODI against England, Nehra used his platform to deliver a message to Kohli.
He said: "I will say one match is left after this, you are not going to the West Indies, and you probably need this break as well. I will say the three-four weeks in between, take a backseat and think about what you need to do in the future and then come back."
"You are talking about a player like Virat Kohli, the runs are not getting scored at all at the moment. When you are scoring runs, you keep on playing continuously, especially if you are a young player. Here you are talking about an experienced player," argued Nehra.
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Nehra advocated for Kohli to use this time to go back to basics and rework his batting, rather than doubling down and continuing to do things incorrectly.
"He is not the sort of player who, if he keeps on playing, runs will be scored some time at least. To be very honest, I felt very good hearing that he is not going on the West Indies tour because if there is any chance of scoring runs, it is probably a break, more practice, some change in the technique, what all you can do.
You can only think about what you have to do in the future if you give yourself time. If you keep on playing back to back, sometimes there is a problem," added Nehra. “Kohli has been an all-format star for India for several years, and this lean patch means his batting is getting affected in all three. However, a return to top form would be something all Indian fans are hoping for,” he added.
Kohli will next be seen in the third and final ODI against England, to be played in Manchester on July 17.
(Sony Sports inputs)
