On the eve of T20 series opener between India and West Indies, Rohit Sharma made a big statement on Virat Kohli's form. During the pre-match press conference, the newly recruited India skipper Rohit was asked questions regarding Virat's form, to which the 34-year-gave a witty reply.
“I think it will start with you guys (media). If you guys can keep quiet for a while, then Virat Kohli will be fine and everything will be taken care of. He is in a great mental space, and he has been part of international cricket for more than a decade, when someone has spent such a long time in international cricket, they know to handle pressure situations. I think it all starts from you guys, if you can keep it quiet for a bit, everything will fall in place,” Rohit said.
“Does Virat Kohli need confidence? What are you talking about? (chuckles) I think not scoring 100 is a different thing but he played a series in South Africa and scored two half-centuries in three matches. I don’t see anything wrong. And the team management is not at all worried about that," he further added.
Rohit & Co. blanked West Indies in a three-match ODI series and will look to carry the same momentum going forward in the T20 series. Kohli was dismissed on a two-ball duck in the third ODI last week and had just managed 8 and 18 in the previous two. However, in the team’s recent tour to South Africa, Kohli had scored 116 from three ODIs, which included two 50-plus scores.
Kohli has not scored a hundred for more than two years in international cricket. In ODIs, it has been three years since his last century. He has 44 hundreds in the format overall. But Kohli has scored a lot of half centuries which is an indication that he is not exactly in wretched form.
Earlier on Monday (February 14), off-spinner Washington Sundar was ruled out of the T20 series against the West Indies due to a hamstring injury, adding to his never-ending woes.
India's batting coach Vikram Rathour also threw his weight behind Virat when he disagreed that the latter is going through a lean form.
“I have had no specific conversation with Virat Kohli. I don’t think he has been going through a lean form as he has scored plenty of runs in ODI and T20s last year. Yes, he had a relatively poor series against the West Indies. But he has been batting well in the nets. I am certain that he will bounce back soon,” Rathour told the media during a virtual conference on Monday (February 14).
Replying to a query on whether the Men in Blue would look to give games to everyone in the squad, Rohit said: “Yeah, the idea is to identify the players who are going to play the World Cup, try and give them game time. There are a lot of players who are injured, come the World Cup, I do not know who is going to be fit, so we just have to get everyone ready for any situation".
“We have a very packed schedule and injuries are bound to happen, it is important that we give guys who are going to fill those roles, enough gametime. It is important that we use this series and the next series that will follow after this, to our good potential and see whoever are likely to have, what they can offer us,” he added.
“There is so much dew, after 6 to 7 O’clock, a lot of dew comes into play. We have spoken about the dew factor,” Rohit said on the conditions at Eden Gardens, Kolkata.
India's squad for T20 series: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Ishan Kishan, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Surya Kumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (vice-captain) (wicket-keeper), Venkatesh Iyer, Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur, Ravi Bishnoi, Yuzvendra Chahal, Mohd. Siraj, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Avesh Khan, Harshal Patel, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Deepak Hooda, Kuldeep Yadav.
West Indies' squad for T20 series: Kieron Pollard (captain), Nicholas Pooran (vice-captain), Fabian Allen, Darren Bravo, Roston Chase, Sheldon Cottrell, Dominic Drakes, Jason Holder, Shai Hope, Akeal Hosein, Brandon King, Rovman Powell, Romario Shepherd, Odean Smith, Kyle Mayers, Hayden Walsh Jr.
