With his Test spot coming under heavy criticism for arguably the first time in his career, India batter Virat Kohli has been urged to get rid of his “senseless” on-field gestures and rather focus on reviving his form by former Australia captain, Ian Chappell.
Despite opening the Border-Gavaskar Trophy with a century in Perth last November, the 36-year-old Kohli’s series went from bad to worse as he fell prey to the off-side trap set adeptly by the Australian pacers. In eight of his nine innings on tour, Kohli fell caught-behind by the wicket-keeper or in the slip-cordon, ending the series with a lowly 190 runs at a 23.75 average.
Kohli and captain Rohit Sharma have come under heavy criticism following the string of low-scores and a BGT series defeat after 10 years. The defeat in the fifth Test in Sydney also quashed India’s dreams of a third World Test Championship final, with Australia securing the berth. With India aiming at a transition starting the next WTC cycle which begins with a five-match tour to England in July, Chappell has insisted Kohli must get back to the basics of scoring runs to justify his place.
“Kohli’s experience in the UK would be invaluable, and of the two problematic players he’s the most likely to be resuscitated. However, his consistency needs to improve in addition to dispensing valuable advice to younger players. He also has to stop his senseless antics like shouldering Sam Konstas in the MCG Test. If Kohli does decide to retire from Test cricket, the loss of both him and Rohit would leave a huge gap in the line-up for a tough tour,” Chappell wrote on his column in ESPNcricinfo.
Chappell was also uncertain of captain Rohit’s Test future after his disastrous Australia campaign culminating with the Mumbaikar himself opting out from the Sydney Test. “For India the two big question marks are leading batters, and the selectors have tough decisions to make regarding Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. The soon-to-be-38-year-old Rohit, facing a crammed five-Test series against England in a few months, is a doubtful quantity. Although India are extremely reluctant to part with star players, lately Rohit has struggled technically and his absence would provide uncertainty over the opening position and the captaincy,” added Chappell.
