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Former India World Cup-winning captain Kapil Dev has questioned if Virat Kohli was certainly rested or ignored for the upcoming five T20Is against the West Indies. Dev feels that the selectors have avoided using the word “dropped” as he “is not an ordinary” cricketer.
The former Royal Challengers Bangalore captain last scored an international century in 2019 and has struggled for runs lately. In this context, Dev had pointed out that the team management can’t go by reputation only.
“It’s not like India haven’t played without Virat in the last five to six years, but I want such a player to be back in form. He might have been dropped or rested but there’s still a lot of cricket left in him,” Dev had said while speaking to ABP News.
He then expressed how Virat Kohli should play in domestic tournaments like the Ranji Trophy to get back to his prior form.
“Play Ranji Trophy or score runs anywhere. His confidence needs to be back. This is the difference between a great and a good player. A great player like him shouldn’t take so much time to get back in form. He has to fight with himself and get things in order,” Dev added.
Arguably one of India's best-ever all-rounders, Dev, then asked the board to make the decision regarding Kohli as he hasn't been performing well.
He said: “The most important thing is how a player like Kohli can return to form. He’s not an ordinary cricketer. He should get more practice, play more matches to get back to his old self. I don’t think there’s a bigger player than Kohli in T20s right now but when you are not doing well, the selectors can take their call."
The Haryana Hurricane then addressed that Virat Kohli is a great player and if the board is saying he is rested as a mark of respect then there’s no harm in that.
“My thinking is that if anybody isn’t doing well then he can be rested or dropped. I can’t say a player like Virat Kohli should be dropped. He’s a big player. If you say he has been rested as a mark of respect then there’s no harm in that,” the 63-year-old said.