Virat Kohli’s has had a tough time scoring runs in a past few years as his lean patch is turning into a massive rut as he continues to fail in his attempt at getting a big score both on international level and in the Indian Premier League (IPL).
The 33-year-old has not scored an international century for close two-and-a-half years now even though he has given up his captaincy from all formats of international cricket and captaincy of Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) to Faf Du Plesis he has failed to score runs. He was dismissed for a golden duck in RCB’s match against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG).
Kohli has scored only 119 runs in the 7 matches he has played so far this season and his stats haven’t been for the past few years as he has not scored more than 500 runs in an IPL campaign for over 4 years.
‘Virat Kohli’s brain is fried’, says Shastri
Former India head coach Ravi Shastri feels the batsman desperately needs a break to rejuvenate himself. Kohli has been under tremendous scrutiny as a player, captain and batsman over the past 6-7 years. Shastri was the coach of the Indian Men’s team from 2017-2021.
“When I was coach at the time when this first started, the first thing I said is ‘you have to show empathy to the guys’. If you’re going to be forceful, there is a very thin line there, from a guy losing the plot as opposed to him hanging in there and giving his best. So you have to be extremely careful,” Ravi Shastri told Star Sports in the post-match show.
“I am going straight to the main guy here. Virat Kohli is overcooked. If anyone needs a break, it’s him.
“Whether it’s 2 months or a month-and-a-half, whether it’s after England or before England.
“He needs a break because he has got 6-7 years of cricket left in him and you don’t want to lose that with a fried brain. He is not the only one. There might be 1 or 2 in world cricket going through the same. You need to address the problem upfront,” Shastri added.
Kevin Pietersen agrees with Ravi Shastri
Former England Batsman Kevin Pietersen has also agreed to Shastri’s comments and has suggested that Kohli should be away from social media to avoid further scrutiny.
“100 percent correct, Ravi. The guy has had so much to deal with, from marriage to baby to media scrutiny and all on his personal life. He is the biggest star on show.”
“Virat Kohli needs to say ‘cricket boots, for six months, I will see you later’. Turn off social media, go and get re-energised. When the stadiums are full again, you guarantee him a spot in that side for the next 12, 24 or 36 months. Tell him ‘you’re our guy, we know you’ll deliver for us’.
“I think he is going to find it very hard to continue delivering now. His brain, as Ravi Shastri said, is completely fried,” Pietersen said.