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'I don't see much wrong with Virat's batting; should keep playing': Ex-India captain shares piece of advice for Kohli
In a miserable season with the Bangalore-based outfit, the star Indian batter has amassed just 216 runs in 12 matches with just one half-century.
Virat Kohli on Sunday recorded his third golden duck of the ongoing IPL season to continue his torrid period with the willow. The former Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) skipper got caught out on first ball of the game against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) with a mistimed hit to short midwicket. It was Kohli's third dismissal in the current IPL on the first ball, after two in successive matches last month. (Follow IPL 2022 Coverage)
Left-arm spinner Jagadeesha Suchith started the proceedings with the ball for Sunrisers, and the ploy worked with Kohli flicking it straight to fielder Kane Williamson. In a miserable season with the Bangalore-based outfit, the star Indian batter has amassed just 216 runs in 12 matches with just one half-century. Kohli's last international ton was in 2019 and the mercurial player's career has witnessed a rough patch in the last few months.
Pundits including former India coach Ravi Shastri believe Kohli is "overcooked" due to relentless cricket and should take a break. But the ex-BCCI chairman of selectors Dilip Vengsarkar feels the Indian would find his lost mojo only by spending time at the crease.
"I feel he should keep playing. You can find form only by playing, not by resting," the former India captain told Cricbuzz.
"Because, you get your form back when you spend time in the middle, when you have runs under your belt. If he scores runs in the last few games (of the IPL), then he can take a break. My personal view is if he is failing and he takes off, doubts will start creeping into his mind. That is not the way to go about it.
"My advice to him will be that the form will come only in the middle. I do not see much wrong with Virat's batting. The T20 format is such. You can't take time to settle down, because, you have to play shots from the beginning. If you are not in great form, then things tend to get more difficult for a batsman," he further added.
Kohli's dry run with the bat has coincided with his stepping down as the leader of India in T20 and Test cricket, and being removed as the ODI skipper. He also relinquished Bangalore captaincy last season.
As Kohli looks to overcome the batting slump, Vengsarkar believes the batter has been burdened with high expectations. Kohli hasn't hit a century in more than 100 matches in all formats but he's got the backing of the former India skipper, who underlined the "impact" of an innings instead of talking about the three-figure milestones.
"Internationally, if you have seen, he is getting runs, if not scoring centuries. I feel in India, we think getting runs means scoring hundreds. Scores of 60 and 70 are not considered runs. That is a wrong perception. What is important is the impact of one's innings. That is more important to me than scoring hundreds. We in India are obsessed with personal milestones," said Vengsarkar.
