Former India captain Mohammed Azharuddin has extended his support towards former Indian captain and batting maestro Virat Kohli ahead of the upcoming 5th Test match against England.
Virat Kohli has been going through a lean patch for a long time now, having not scored a century since November 2019 in any of the three formats. He also didn’t have a great season in the recently concluded IPL 2022, scoring 341 runs from 16 matches at 22.73. Though, there were glimpses of his old form, but he was seen struggling with consistent performances.
Virat Kohli will be joining the Indian Test squad for the tour of England for the upcoming 5th Test match of last year’s series.
Azhar Extends His Support Towards Virat Kohli
Ahead of the much-awaited match, Azhar talked about Virat’s form and he believes that Kohli’s “staggering consistency” when he was at his peak some two years back has set the benchmark so high that even when he scores in the 50s and 60s, his fans feel that the cricketer has underperformed.
Khaleej Times quoted Azhar saying: “With Virat Kohli, what happens is that even if he scores a 50, people say he has failed. I think it happens to every cricketer, even the best of the players have gone through these lean periods”
However, Azhar feels that it is a matter of time before Virat Kohli rediscovers his form, adding that just one century for Kohli will get him firing again. He said:
“There is nothing wrong with his technique. Sometimes you also need a little bit of luck. If he gets one big score, a big hundred, the aggression and the confidence will come back”
Meanwhile, Virat Kohli has been rested for the upcoming 5-match T20I series against South Africa and will be next seen in action in the 5th Test match between India and England.
India’s Test squad vs England:
Rohit Sharma (Captain),KL Rahul (vice-captain) Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Hanuma Vihari, Cheteshwar Pujara, Rishabh Pant (wk), KS Bharat (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Shardul Thakur, Mohd Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Prasidh Krishna
