Star India batter Virat Kohli is taking a break from the West Indies tour.
This behaviour of Kohli’s has come under the scanner of various former cricketers who have criticized Kohli.
The West Indies series was a great chance for Kohli to make his comeback into the Indian squad.
Now, former India spinner Pragyan Ojha has revealed that Virat Kohli will be playing all the series hereafter.
“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,” said Ojha.
Ojha further added that once Kohli gets himself to make some runs, he will certainly find his mojo back.
“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?,” said Ojha.
Pragyan Ojha also believed that all the Indian players are feeling the mental strain of playing in bio-bubbles.
“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,” added Ojha.
Even Ojha added that Kohli should have toured the West Indies to play the ODI and the T20I series to get back into form.
“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,” said Ojha.
While former cricketers have criticised Kohli’s performance in the past and even in the current scenario, India skipper Rohit Sharma is fully defending Kohli on all fronts.
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