Former India cricketer Pragyan Ojha believes Virat Kohli will now play all the series in the build up to the ICC T20 World Cup this year.
Kohli has taken a break from India’s tour of West Indies, which received a lot of criticism and negative reactions from the cricket pundits. Many experts like Sunil Gavaskar and Kapil Dev believe that the best way for Virat to get back into his form is by playing more and more cricket.
When it comes to T20Is, Kohli has missed several series after the World Cup last year. He missed the three-match series versus the Blackcaps right after the T20 WC and missed the third T20I against West Indies in February. The selectors also gave him rest during the three-match series against Sri Lanka. He then went on to miss the 5 match T20I series against South Africa, despite being in a poor form in the IPL.
However, former India spinner Pragyan Ojha has dropped a major update on Kohli’s future, saying that the star batter is going to play all the series in the build-up to the T20 World Cup.
“By comeback I am talking about getting runs. Once a batter of his caliber gets a few runs going, then things change drastically. And I am sure as I am hearing that after the West Indies tour, he will be going for all the series thereon. I don’t think he will take any breaks, which is a great thing. He should be doing that," Ojha told Jamie Alter on his Glance chat show, The Alternate View.
“I don’t think there is an issue in his skill or anything else. He’s been batting brilliantly, but sometimes how you handle yourself mentally matters. Keep in mind the schedule. Look at Ben Stokes… he just said ‘boss, we’re not vehicles that you just put petrol and we start running’. At times his effects everybody. But I am saying that, Virat must play every chance he gets because if you don’t play how will you get the confidence?," the former India cricketer added.
The former left-arm spinner feels that perhaps Kohli is mentally not there, and playing most of his cricket in the last two years inside bio-bubbles has taken a mental toll on him and all the the players too.
“When you look at Virat’s batting, it is not about the skill or that he’s not timing it well or his fitness has taken a beating. He’s just there, and I think better than others with his work ethic and discipline. The only thing is that maybe mentally he’s a little caught up somewhere. Maybe that’s why he’s been regularly taking breaks," Ojha added.
Ojha asserted that the former India captain should have toured the Caribbean to get back into form before the Asia Cup and the T20 World Cup later this year.
“We have to understand that the last couple of years were very challenging with the bio bubbles and all, and you don’t know how it affects someone individually. What Virat has done for Indian cricket, he is getting the right kind of backing, but personally I feel that he should have been there in the West Indies because this was a great opportunity for him to make a comeback and get some great runs," the former left-arm spinner said.
The tour of West Indies could have been ideal preparation for Kohli to get some runs before the Asia Cup, but as things turned out, it wasn’t the case. While many believe that his place in the team is in jeopardy, the current Indian captain Rohit Sharma still backs his star player.
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