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India will take on England in the 2nd T20I and all eyes will be on the players who are returning to the team after losing in the final Test at the same venue. The most talked-about player on this list is Virat Kohli, who has not scored an international 50 since February.
The criticisms reached a point where even former India skipper Kapil Dev said, "Now the situation is such that you might be forced to bench Kohli from T20 playing eleven. If world No. 2 bowler (Ravichandran) Ashwin can be dropped from the Test side then the former world No. 1 batter can also be dropped."
After the news broke, Sports Tak reached out to a top BCCI official to understand the situation better. Sharing his thoughts, the source said, "players like Virat Kohli are made to serve the nation. What Virat has done in the last 10 years is phenomenal. He was the captain in all formats and also did well in both white-ball and red-ball cricket especially. But all the players, at some point in time, go through bad patches so is Virat and I feel he will bounce back soon.
With news that Kohli might be rested for the T20I series against West Indies as well, speculations also arose that his performances will be reviewed for selection (T20 world cup/ODI). Opening up on the same, the source said, "he has done a phenomenal job for the country as captain and also as a player. At present, he is not getting runs but I don't think he should be dropped. We wanted to give him as much cricket as possible so that he can get his rhythm back.
"But at the same time, I want to mention that be it Virat or anybody else, all are selected or dropped based on their performances. After the England tour, we have more series to play, so he should be tested especially in the Asia cup before the T20 world cup, and then selectors should take a call. We have time on our hands for the T20 world cup. He is a key player and there should be no noise. it's just a matter of time so let's not jump the gun," he concluded.
