Virat Kohli Set To Be Dropped From T20I Team If His Struggles Continue In England, Could Miss T20 World Cup
Jul 7, 2022 at 11:03 AM
Virat Kohli could reportedly lose his place in Team India’s T20I squad if he fails to deliver in the upcoming limited-overs series against England.
Less than a year after stepping down as the T20I captain, Virat Kohli is now in danger of losing his place in the team. The right-arm pacer could finally lose his place in the team if his poor form continues in the upcoming T20I series.
Consequently, he might not be on the plane to Australia for this year’s T20 World Cup. On Wednesday, the selectors rested him for the forthcoming ODI series against West Indies. Apart from him, Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Rishabh Pant and Hardik Pandya have been rested too.
But unlike the other rested players, Kohli has been struggling with his form for quite some time now and could pay a huge price if he does not start delivering with the bat soon. The former India skipper has not scored a century in international cricket since 2019.
In this year’s IPL, he struggled throughout the tournament and registered as many as three ducks. In 16 games, he managed to score only 341 runs at an average of 22.73 and a strike rate of 115.99. Recently, he failed against England in the rescheduled Edgbaston Test too, scoring 11 and 20.
Virat Kohli’s place in danger:
With Virat Kohli’s form showing little signs of improvement, The Times of India has reported that his T20I future depends on how he performs in the T20I and ODI series against England.
The report stated that while the likes of Rohit, Pandya and Pant are certain to travel to West Indies, the same cannot be said about Kohli. The news outlet claimed that the Indian team management and selectors are not clear about fitting Kohli in the T20I middle-order.
“The T20I team has been withheld to evaluate the rest needed to be given to the top players. Rohit, Pant and Pandya are likely to play the T20Is in West Indies.
“Bumrah most likely will not be travelling to the Caribbean. As for Kohli, one needs to see what the team management decides on what it needs for the T20 World Cup. This limited-overs series in England is very crucial for Kohli,” the news outlet quoted a source as saying.
With the likes of Suryakumar Yadav, Pant, Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Sanju Samson and now Deepak Hooda performing well in recent times, time is running out for Kohli.
Even the top-order is filled with players who have done better than Kohli in recent months like KL Rahul and Ishan Kishan. Rohit is a certainty in the top-order and there are calls to include both Rahul and Kishan in the top three instead of Kohli.