Virat Kohli's lean patch has sparked a hot topic of debate with many including Ravi Shastri saying the star batter has 'overcooked' himself with too much cricket. Kohli, 33, has been a pale shadow of his former self in the ongoing IPL edition, managing to notch up just 128 runs from nine games. The former Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) skipper lasted only 10 balls in his previous game before an attempted pull shot off Prasidh Krishna was edged onto his helmet to give a catch at cover point. His brief outing was preceded by consecutive golden ducks. (Follow IPL 2022 Coverage)
He has failed to hit an international century for over two years and lowly scores has led to fans and pundits showing concern about Kohli's inability to regain his lost mojo. Many have backed Kohli to come good with the bat and former India all-rounder Yuvraj Singh feels the mercurial batter needs to be his 'free-flowing' self.
Yuvraj, who was a part of the 2011 World Cup-winning India squad with Kohli, underlined the former skipper's work ethic and fitness levels, further adding that even the best players go through a rough spell.
"Obviously, he is also not happy, and people aren’t too, because we have seen him setting bigger benchmarks, scoring hundreds after hundreds. But this happens to the best players,” Yuvraj said in the first of two-part interview series on Home of Heroes show on Sports18.
{{/usCountry}}"Obviously, he is also not happy, and people aren’t too, because we have seen him setting bigger benchmarks, scoring hundreds after hundreds. But this happens to the best players,” Yuvraj said in the first of two-part interview series on Home of Heroes show on Sports18.
{{/usCountry}}“Virat needs to become a free-flowing personality again. If he can change himself and be like how he was earlier that will reflect in his game. He has proved himself to be the best of this era and believes in a strong work ethic and that has brought the best out of him over the years."
Kohli, who has scored over 23,500 runs for India in international cricket, was expected to do well without the burden of leadership. But a string of poor scores and manner of his dismissals indicate that he is not in the best of form.
But RCB captain Faf du Plessis has backed Kohli to make a strong return. The team's head coach Sanjay Bangar has also said that the star batter will emerge out of the lean phase going forward.
Kohli has played 101 Tests, 260 One-day internationals and 97 T20 games for India since 2008, during which time he has amassed 23,650 runs across the three formats including 70 centuries.
He is still searching for elusive title with his IPL franchise RCB. Kohli, who had amassed a record 973 runs in the 2016 edition of the IPL, will be in action against Gujarat Titans (GT) on Saturday.