Legendary Pakistan batter says Virat Kohli 'possibly under pressure', explains reason behind it

Virat Kohli , who has 70 international hundreds under his name, has failed to create an impact with the bat and questions are being raised over his spot in the Indian team.

Virat Kohli has not been in the best of form and his struggle is evident with the series of low scores he has been out for in the ongoing series against England. The talismanic cricketer, who has 70 international hundreds under his name, has failed to create an impact with the bat and questions are being raised over his spot in the Indian team. (Follow | IND vs ENG 3rd ODI LIVE score updates)

Virat Kohli during practice (Reuters/File Photo)

Amidst all the hullabaloo surrounding Kohli's form, Pakistan great Mohammad Yousuf too drew concerns before branding the Indian as the number one batter by digging out his previous stats. The Pakistan legend shared his views during an interaction with ARY news, when he was asked if Kohli has ever taken batting advice from him.

Yousuf stated that he and Kohli never had any conversations related to cricket. He was then asked about Kohli's dip in runs, to which Yousuf said “getting out of form” is part of the game but was quick to point that the former India captain has now been struggling for almost two or two and a half years.

“Getting out of form is part of the game but Kohli has been out of form for a long time. But looking at the performances, in my opinion after Sachin (Tendulkar) he has delivered brilliant performances. He has scored 70 centuries in I think 11 years. Especially in white ball, in Test he has not performed the way he did in one-day but he has 27 centuries in that format as well.”

“From what I see this is a part of the game, I believe every player goes through a bad patch but this one has been very long, which is approximately 2 to 2.5 years,” said Kohli.

Without taking any names, Yousuf stated that he feels the dip in Kohli's form is because of the way he was treated and maybe this is why he is “under pressure”.

Just before the start of the T20 World Cup, Kohli had announced that he will step down as the captain but will continue to lead the side in Test and ODIs. However, weeks after the development Kohli was dropped as the captain in both the formats.

“The way he has been treated maybe it's because of that and he is under pressure. But if we look at his performances he is the best player of this era. In the last 10 years, the way he has performed he is number one in the game,” said Yousuf.