- Friday, May 03, 2024
By: Shubham Ghosh
INDIA might be doing impressively in the white-ball format at the moment but the form of their ace batter Virat Kohli remains a concern. The 33-year-old has not scored an international century in more than two years now and also fared ordinarily in the Indian Premier League this year. His poor run has continued in the ongoing tour of England and if the words uttered by Indian cricket board chief Sourav Ganguly are to be believed, the first warning bell might have already rung for Kohli.
Ganguly, a former captain and president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), recently spoke in detail to an Indian news website about Kohli’s poor form, saying that the latter would have to find a way by himself. Kohli scored only 11 and 20 in the crucial fifth Test match against England at Edgbaston and 1 and 11 in the two T20 internationals against the same opponents. He is yet to play a game in the one-day international series as a groin injury forced him out in the first match at the Oval on Tuesday (12).
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“Of course, look at the numbers he has got in international cricket that doesn’t happen without ability and quality. Yes, he has had a tough time and he knows that. He has been a great player himself. He himself knows by his own standards it has not been good and I see him coming back and doing well.
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But he has got to find his way and become successful, which he has been for the last 12-13 years or more and only Virat Kohli can do that, ” Ganguly told Asian News International.
Kohli has been one of the most prolific scorers for India in international cricket. In one-day internationals, he has slammed more than 12,000 runs in 260 games at an average of 58 plus with 43 tons.
“These things will happen in sport. It has happened to everybody. It has happened to Sachin, It has happened to Rahul, it has happened to me, it has happened to Kohli. It is going to happen to future players. That’s part and parcel of sport and I think as a sportsman you just need to listen, be aware of what it is and just go and play your game,” Ganguly further said.
Kohli also remains doubtful for the second one-day international against England which will take place at Lord’s on Thursday (14). He has not been named in the 18-member T20 international squad for the upcoming series against the West Indies later this month.
Last year, speculation was rife over a rift between Kohli and Ganguly over the former’s stepping down from India’s one-day international captaincy. While Kohli claimed that he was asked to step down from ODI captaincy on a short notice, a version which contradicted that of the BCCI which said he was asked to reconsider quitting T20 international captaincy for India which Kohli did earlier. The Indian board led by Ganguly reportedly told Kohli that split captaincy in white-ball cricket was not ideal but Kohli claimed that there was no communication asking him to reconsider leaving T20 leadership.
