Former India skipper Virat Kohli’s lackluster performance in recent months has been a sign of concern for all Indian cricket fans. Although Kohli hasn’t reached a century for over 2 years now, the recently concluded IPL 2022 season was a new low as he suffered first ball dismissals on three occasions.
With the T20I World Cup in Australia later this year, fans will be hoping the 33-year-old can get his groove back and the runs come off his bat again.
The Delhi-born drummer’s last ton came back in November 2019, and in the 2022 IPL season, even though Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) reached the playoffs, Kohli only scored 341 points at an average of 22, 73, which is a disappointing figure by its own high standards.
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Many cricket pundits have had their say on Kohli’s meltdown, with Ravi Shastri urging the former skipper to take a break from cricket. Indeed, King Kohli has been rested for India’s five-game T20I series against South Africa and he is now preparing to face England in the rescheduled fifth Test match from last year.
Meanwhile, former Pakistani skipper Rashid Latif felt that Ravi Shastri should be blamed for Kohli’s below-par performance. Speaking on his YouTube channel, the veteran added that Shastri has nothing to do with coaching.
“It’s because of him (Ravi Shastri) that this happened. In 2019 you kicked out a player like Kumble and Ravi Shastri came. Whether he has the accreditation or not, I have no idea. He was a broadcaster. Had no business in the coaching business,” Latif said.
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He further continued, “Except Virat Kohli, I’m sure there would have been other people who would have played a role in integrating Shastri. But it’s backfiring on him now, isn’t it? If he (Shastri) hadn’t become the coach, he (Kohli) wouldn’t have come out (in form).”
Shastri worked closely with Virat from 2017 to 2021 when he was the head coach of Team India, and before that he had another stint with the Indian team when he was manager for two years in 2014.
Ravi Shastri’s tenure as India’s head coach came to an end after the T20 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates last year, after which Rahul Dravid took charge of the team.
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