Former India skipper Sunil Gavaskar has defended Virat Kohli, who is going through a rough patch in his career. Virat Kohli scored only twelve runs in two matches against England in the recently concluded T20I series. For the last couple of years, he hasn’t looked at his best. His last international century came against Bangladesh in a Test match in 2019.
Virat Kohli’s poor form has become a worry for the Indian team, especially with the ICC T20 World Cup 2022 to take place in November. As his batting struggle continued in the T20I series against England, many former cricketers raised questions about his place in the team. However, Sunil Gavaskar has defended the veteran India batter.
Speaking on Sports Tak, Sunil Gavaskar expressed that other players like Rohit Sharma don’t get the flak as much as Virat Kohli does when they are out of form. He said,
“I don’t understand this that when Rohit Sharma doesn’t score runs, nobody talks about it. When any other player doesn’t score runs, nobody talks about it. The form is temporary and class is permanent. You are only asking about one player. The kind of template Team India has started, players will be unsuccessful.”
Virat Kohli suffered a groin injury during the third T20I against England on Sunday. He is likely to miss the first ODI match between India and England on Tuesday, July 12.
Virat Kohli did not come for optional practice today ahead of the first ODI match at Kennington Oval. He has a suspected groin injury and is unlikely to play the first ODI against England: BCCI sources
— ANI (@ANI) July 11, 2022
Give it some time: Sunil Gavaskar on talks about India’s T20 World Cup squad
The ICC T20 World Cup 2022 is all set to take place in October this year in Australia. The talks about team selection for the mega-event have already started. Some experts have excluded Virat Kohli from their probable India playing XI for the T20 World Cup. However, Sunil Gavaskar expressed that there is still time for the World Cup. He said,
“We have a good selection committee. There are still two months for the team to be announced and even the Asia Cup is left. You can see the form there and choose your team. Give it some time.“
India will be playing a five-match T20I series against West Indies and the Asia Cup before the ICC T20 World Cup 2022. The BCCI is likely to announce the squads for the West Indies series and Asia Cup soon.
