'Why the hurry? Making 70 international tons is not small thing': Kohli's childhood coach furious at Kapil Dev's remark

Former skipper Kapil Dev said that India might be forced to bench Kohli, especially when a bowler of Ravichandran Ashwin's calibre was dropped from the Test eleven.

India clinched the Twenty20 series against England after a 49-run rout in the second match on Saturday. The visiting team dished out a near-perfect performance, giving a glimpse of their T20 tactics ahead of the World T20 that's less than four months away. All-rounder Ravindra Jadeja's 46 not out lifted India to 170-8 and Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah shared five wickets to outwit the English opposition. Everyone barring Virat Kohli seemed ready for the T20 showpiece event in Australia.

Former India captain Virat Kohli

The former skipper, who has been going through a prolonged lean patch and has not hit a century since 2019, perished for just 1 as he miscued a shot against debutant Richard Gleeson and Dawid Malan grabbed a fine catch running backwards. The 33-year-old had replaced Deepak Hooda, who has been in devastating form at the number three batting spot. It remains to be seen whether the team management continues to back Kohli despite poor returns.

Amidst the lean patch, Kohli's childhood coach Rajkumar Sharma has extended support to the star batter. He disagreed with Kapil Dev's idea, saying Kohli's 70 international tons is a testimony to his batting prowess.

"I do not support the statements made by Kapil Dev on Virat Kohli. Nothing big happened with Virat that such kind of statement has been issued. Why is there so much hurry with Virat, he has done so well for the country. Making 70 international centuries is not a small thing. I do not think the board will make a decision to have him sit on the bench," Rajkumar said to ANI.

Earlier, Kapil Dev had said that India might be forced to bench Kohli, especially when a bowler of Ravichandran Ashwin's calibre was dropped from the Test eleven. The World Cup-winning India captain wants youngsters to pose challenges for star players including Kohli, who has been a shadow of his old self.

"Yes, now the situation is such that you might be forced to bench Kohli from T20 playing eleven. If world No. 2 bowler Ashwin can be dropped from Test side then (once upon a time) world No. 1 batter can also be dropped," Kapil told ABP News.

"Virat is not batting at a level which we have seen him do over the years. He has made a name because of his performances but if he isn't performing, then you can't keep the performing youngsters out of the team.

"I want competition for places in the team in a positive sense that these youngsters should try and outperform Virat," said the legendary cricketer.