Former India pacer Ajit Agarkar has said that batter Virat Kohli is not at his best right now, but it would order well for Team India if he ends up finding form sooner rather than later. Earlier this month, Kohli stood down as India’s Test skipper a day after the country suffered a 1-2 series defeat against South Africa in the three-match series.
Last year, the 33-year-old had also stepped down as T20I captain and then he was removed as the ODI leader after the selectors wanted one leader for white-ball formats. “At the end of the day you’re only successful as successful your team is and if you don’t win, it eventually doesn’t matter how great a player you are out on the field, it’s not enjoyable playing in the team,” Agarkar said on Star Sports show ‘Game Plan’.
“We talk about different combinations before – Virat Kohli would be a key factor because of the kind of player that he is but at the moment he isn’t at his best, which is a fact and the quicker he discovers his form it’s going to be that much easier for Rohit Sharma to then manage that thing because of what he can do on his own, Virat Kohli. Virat Kohli’s form is a concern, but we all know what a player he is. So, hopefully, he discovers his form sooner rather than later,” he added.
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Kohli’s last century in international cricket came way back in November 2019 as he scored a ton against Bangladesh in the day-night Test at Eden Gardens, Kolkata. “From a personal and individual standpoint, you want to convert those 50s into 100s because you’ve got to save something for the rainy days as well. He’s not going through a bad patch of form, so to speak, in terms of runs, but when you see him bat, you don’t see the same Virat Kohli,” said former India opener Aakash Chopra.
“He’s not imposing, he’s not dominating, he’s still scratching around, he’s scoring those runs and that’s what all great players do – we saw Sachin (Tendulkar), Rahul (Dravid) – we’ve seen them accumulate runs, but he’s (Virat Kohli) not an accumulator, he’s an enforcer but he’s not there yet. But the one thing I actually want to see, is now Rohit Sharma will have his stamp of authority and the brand of cricket that he wants to play,” he added.
Team India will begin their three-match ODI series against West Indies in Ahmedabad on Sunday (February 6).
(with ANI inputs)
