Dinesh Karthik passes verdict on Virat Kohli taking rest from West Indies tour amid criticism from legends

Amid rising criticism, senior India cricketer and his Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) teammate Dinesh Karthik passed his verdict on Kohli's decision to rest through the West Indies tour.

Former Indian skipper Virat Kohli has faced relentless criticism over the past few weeks over his struggles with the bat, place the team and decision to take rest from the impending tour of West Indies. Veteran cricketers and experts have been left furious of the call to rest Kohli, who has been recently incurred a forgettable tour of England where he scored 33 runs in ODI series and just 12 runs in the T20Is. And amid the criticism, senior India cricketer and his Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) teammate Dinesh Karthik passed his verdict on Kohli's decision to rest through the West Indies tour.

Dinesh Karthik; Virat Kohli

After the arduous IPL 2022 campaign, Kohli skipped the South Africa T20I series at home and the two-match contest in Ireland. His first assignment was the rescheduled fifth Test, but he failed to make an impact, scoring just 31 runs in India's seven-wicket defeat in Birmingham. Following the Edgbaston Test, Kohli was once again rest for the opening T20I game and missed the ODI series opener as well, for mild groin strain.

Amid the poor run of form, experts have questioned his decision to skip the West Indies series where India will be playing five T20Is and three ODIs. But Karthik has backed the decision and feels that Kohli can make a stronger return to the game following the break.

"Virat has experienced insane success over the period of time. Now he will get a good break and will come back all recharged and hopefully, will do phenomenally well. You can never rule out a player of his calibre," said Karthik on conversation with Times of India.

Karthik too will be travelling to the Caribbean for the five-match series which begins from July 29 onwards.

Earlier, Kohli received support from India skipper Rohit Sharma as well during the England tour.

"He has played so many matches for so many years. He has been such a great batsman so he does not need reassurance. I think I said in the last press conference as well that form can go up and down. That is part and parcel of all the players' career. This happens with everyone. So a player who has won so many matches, needs only 1 or 2 innings. This is what I believe and I am sure rest feel the same way," Rohit had said.