After another failed outing in England, Virat Kohli would have liked to play some cricket, but that is not what going to happen as the former India captain has been rested, once again in a space of six months or so. Let’s not forget that he was rested for the home series against South Africa. While his colleagues will return to West Indies for T20I series, he will remain on the sidelines which doesn’t augur well for the India superstar ahead of the all important ICC T20 World Cup 2022.
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It all began for Kohli as he stepped down from the position of T20I skipper and then saw his fortunes take a tumble when he was stripped of the position of ODI captaincy in December 2021. Eventually, he also left the Test captaincy after India’s demoralizing defeat in South Africa a month later.
Nonetheless, for his fans, this was a godsend as this meant Kohli the batter can really excel. But they were wrong as he went on to score 322 runs in 16 innings in IPL. Even in England, his form continued to worsen and he accounted for 12 in two T20I games in a year that will see the ICC T20 World Cup.
Many former cricketers believed he could have made the most of ODI games in West Indies, instead he chose to take a rest from the upcoming tour to the Caribbean isles, especially game time and some runs could have boosted his confidence.
Even as reports are emerging that he might be pushed to play against Zimbabwe, former greats are already criticizing the BCCI over the issues, asking why Kohli has been given so much rest.
“I don’t understand why the Indian selectors have rested him for the West Indies series. If he is in their scheme of things for the T20 World Cup in Australia, he should play as many games as possible to get his form and confidence back. That would help him," former India cricketer and selector Dilip Vengsarkar told ‘Khaleej Times.’
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“Resting him sends a wrong signal because if he is going to Australia, then he will go without really big scores behind him. That would worry him as well. I always feel that when you are not scoring runs, it’s important to play as many matches as possible and spend time in the middle, and get back among the runs. This game is all about confidence," Vengsarkar added.
If Kohli misses out on West Indies and Zimbabwe tours, it means he will not play cricket until the end of August, a gap of more than 30 days.
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