Drop Virat Kohli if he isn’t performing, says Kapil Dev: Former Indian World Cup-winning captain, Kapil Dev reckons if Ravichandran Ashwin can sit out of the team’s playingXI even after picking a whopping 450 test wickets, then the Indian management can certainly follow a similar pattern with Virat Kohli, who is having a prolonged lean patch in the international cricket.
Virat Kohli, the batting maestro of world cricket, is having a string of poor scores in international cricket in the last few years. The cricketer hasn’t been able to score a century in international cricket since 2019.
Kapil Dev feels that the team India may have to bench Virat Kohli in the T20Is if he continues to perform dismally as it will be a disservice to those who are consistently performing and waiting for their chance.
“Yes, now the situation is such that you might be forced to bench Kohli from the T20 playing XI. 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.
Dev had no hiccups in admitting that Kohli is looking like a shadow of his old self and acknowledged that he is known because of his batting style and records.
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“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,” said the legendary cricketer.
“I want competition for places in a team in a positive sense that these youngsters should try and outperform Virat,” he said.
The 63-years old said that if you aren’t performing then you would rather call it rest than rest.
“You can call it rest and someone else will call it dropped. Every person will have his own view. Obviously, if selectors don’t pick him (Kohli), then it could be because a big player isn’t performing,” he observed.
Virat Kohli continued his poor performance in the ongoing 2nd T20I between England and India. Kohli was dismissed by debutant bowler Richard Gleeson for a score of just one in three deliveries.
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