Former India cricketer Aakash Chopra has expressed that Virat Kohli’s dismissals in the recently concluded T20I series against England are adding fuel to the existing fire. The right-handed batter’s batting struggles have drawn criticism from fans and experts. Some former cricketers have questioned his place in the Indian T20I set-up with the ICC T20 World Cup 2022 set to take place later this year.
Virat Kohli scored just one and eleven in his two outings in the T20I series against England. On Sunday in the Third T20I match, he looked in good touch, batting with positive intent. Kohli slammed a brilliant boundary off David Willey in the third over and followed it up with an even better six, smoking it onto the sightscreen. However, on the very next delivery, he gave a catch to Jason Roy, which ended his time at the crease.
In a video on Youtube, Aakash Chopra expressed that Kohli’s dismissal is acting as fuel to the fire. He added that the veteran batter should play cricket as much as possible to make a comeback from his rough patch. Chopra said,
“Kohli came out with a lot of intent, that he is going to hit fours and sixes. He hit a four and a six as well but after that, he scored 11 runs in six balls and got out. The fire is burning and it is working as fuel for it. Every time he gets out a bigger discussion starts, about what needs to be done now, whether it is right to play Kohli or not. In my opinion, he should play all three ODIs against West Indies, he should play cricket daily, try to score runs daily.”
Virat Kohli has been rested for the upcoming three-match ODI series against West Indies. The series will take place from July 22 at the Port of Spain in Trinidad.
You were expecting a strong start but that did not happen: Aakash Chopra on India losing the openers early
Batting first England put on 215 runs on the board in the third T20I against India. In reply, the Indian openers failed to provide a good start. They were reduced to 13/2 with both Rohit Sharma and Rishabh Pant back in the hut. Talking about India’s start to the chase, Aakash Chopra stated,
“You were expecting a strong start but that did not happen because Reece Topley dismissed Pant at the start. Rohit – a slightly slower ball, he couldn’t read it – played the shot slightly away from the body and a fielder was there in the deep and was out caught.”
Aakash Chopra also raised questions over Shreyas Iyer’s strike rate in T20Is. The highlighted Iyer’s struggle against short deliveries. He expressed that his troubles are going to be a problem for India going forward.
Talking about the third T20I, India lost the match by 17 runs, despite Suryakumar Yadav’s brilliant century. However, India won the three-match T20I series 2-1.
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