Few would have imagined Virat Kohli's exit after the two shots he produced on the previous two deliveries. The star batter gave glimpses of his vintage form with a glorious six in the third and final Twenty20 against England on Sunday. Kohli had the crowd on its feet when he hit David Willey to the sight screen. He swung through the line and held the pose to complete the nonchalant hit. Also Read | Usman Khawaja mocks Kapil Dev's 'bench Virat Kohli in T20Is' remark with sarcastic reply
The shot was a testament to his batting prowess and fans instantly compared it to Kohli's six against Shaheen Afridi in last year's World T20. The Indian hoicked Afridi for an audacious 84m maximum over cow corner, and it was even tagged 'shot of the tournament' by many fans.
Kohli had gathered 57 including five fours and a six, powering India to 151 for 7. But fifties from Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan broke a 29-year-old jinx by guiding Pakistan to an emphatic 10-wicket win over their arch-rivals.
After hitting the six, Kohli perished on the very next ball. He was caught at cover while trying to manufacture a third consecutive hit after back-to-back boundaries.
{{/usCountry}}After hitting the six, Kohli perished on the very next ball. He was caught at cover while trying to manufacture a third consecutive hit after back-to-back boundaries.
{{/usCountry}}Kohli, who made a return to Twenty20 Internationals after five months, managed to score just 12 runs in two games against England. His form is being questioned in all formats of the games, especially at a time when youngsters have been knocking on the door. The likes of Deepak Hooda got chances in Kohli's absence and he made the most of it.
Amid Kohli's lean patch, World Cup-winning India captain Kapil Dev made headlines with his comments about the star batter's place in the team. Kapil said if a bowler of spinner Ravichandran Ashwin calibre faces ouster from the Test side, Kohli can also be dropped from the team.
But current India skipper Rohit Sharma feels otherwise. Speaking to reporters after the third T20I, Rohit said the experts don't know what is happening inside the team.
"It's not difficult at all for us because we don't listen to outside noise. Also, I don't know who these experts are and why they're called experts. I don't get that," Rohit said when asked about Kohli's form.
Former England skipper Michael Vaughan has shared his thoughts on Kohli's wretched run, saying the mercurial player needs a three-month sabbatical from the game. Kohli has 70 international hundreds to his name, only behind Ricky Ponting (71) and Sachin Tendulkar (100) in the game. But he has gone 77 innings without reaching the three-figure mark.
"They are seeing from outside, they don't know what's happening inside the team. We have a thought process, we make the team, we debate and discuss it and think a lot about it.
"The players we pick are backed, they are given opportunities. People on the outside don't know about it. So it's more important about what's happening within our team, that's important for me," Rohit further said.