The former Indian opening batter, Navjot Singh Sidhu, has blamed the critics of the two veterans of the side, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli after the duo had a terrible time in the five-match Test series of the Border Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 2024-25. The Indian captain dropped himself for the final red-ball encounter of the series at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) with 31 runs in five innings at 6.20.
Virat Kohli had a smooth start in the series with an unbeaten 100-run knock in the second innings of the series opener at the Optus Stadium in Perth but still ended it with 190 runs in nine innings at an average of 23.75 with the no half-century apart that. His continuous struggle against the balls outside the off-stump kept on raising questions over the batter’s skills.
Both of these resulted in India losing the power of the BGT for the very first time since 2014/15, as they now lost their maiden Test series in Australia after two successive campaigns in 2018/19 and 2020/21. This now has worked in them getting disqualified for the final of the World Test Championship (WTC) 2023-25, as both Australia and South Africa will lock horns at Lord’s in June next year.
Navjot Singh Sidhu urges the fans to keep faith in Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma
In an exclusive and recent interview with Sports Tak, Navjot Singh Sidhu reckoned that the people and the cricketing experts, along with the fans have to show faith in the veterans who have guided the blue brigade to the T20 World Cup win in 2024 in the West Indies and the United States of America.
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“You know, someone’s bad form has come for two months. You can’t delete it. The services he’s been performing for so long, I know that you cannot rest on your laurels. You have to refresh them with new ones. But you have to give allowance.” The former Indian opener expressed.
“Mark Taylor kept failing for one and a half years. Persistent. Azharuddin kept failing. Ganguly failed eight innings. And he said, I can fail in 8 innings, but it takes just one innings for me to come back.” Navjot Singh Sidhu explained.
Kohli had a very tough time in the longest format in the previous year 2024, with the help of 417 runs in 19 innings at an average of 24.53 with a strike rate of 61.96, thanks to one half-century and as many centuries. He also failed against the spinners at home. The technical issues of the former Indian captain have raised questions over his position.
Navjot Singh Sidhu, the renowned commentator, also shed light on the other Indian batters apart from Kohli and Rohit in the recent series against Australia. Jaiswal finished as the second-leading run-getter of the series with 390 runs.
“Six months ago, you both won the World Cup. Right? And now, all the cricket is one-day cricket. Rohit Sharma won the World Cup. Virat Kohli won the World Cup. You will only have faith in both of them. And the rest. Tell me!!” The former Punjab batter addressed.
“The other five were the top players who played Kookaburra Red Ball. Right? Who showed consistency? It’s a team game. Blaming is the easiest thing. It’s easy to hit stones. But some people make their homes from the stones that the world hits.” Navjot Singh Sidhu highlighted.
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Navjot Singh Sidhu is confident of both these Mumbai and Delhi-born batters, making a comeback as he urged the fans to respect the stars.
“These are such people. This is not the first time that Virat Kohli has been in crisis. This is not the first time that his wife is dragged in between. Right? This is wrong. We must learn to respect our heroes. Have some patience.” The former member of Rajya Sabha told Sports Tak.
“And, I mean, you will understand. Look, the darker the night, the brighter the star. So I think that these were three eras. And in these eras, everyone had a bad time.” Navjot Singh Sidhu concluded.
It will be interesting to see if both of these batters get selected for the upcoming five-match Test series in England.