The ongoing ODI series between India and Australia has been a forgettable one for ace India batter Virat Kohli. In the first two matches of the series, Kohli has been unable to get off the mark, registering consecutive ducks. It is worth noting that this was the first time that Kohli had registered consecutive ducks in his ODI career.
Speaking of his form, former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan took centre stage and talked about the various factors that could be affecting Kohli. He opined that Kohli’s dip in form could be due to anything, from bad form to rustiness.
“2 matches, two ducks – we haven’t seen this. It doesn’t happen too often. This can be pressure, rustiness or anything. All these things are going on social media, the atmosphere is being created. We have to be careful that these two players are not being affected by the atmosphere. If performance is not there, they won’t play,” Pathan said in a video on his YouTube channel.
“But Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli have done amazing things. So, it’s important to persist with them if they are struggling. It’s difficult because Yashasvi Jaiswal is on the bench. But if there’s a sword hanging above your head, it’s not easy to play. I hope it doesn’t affect Kohli,” he added.
Pathan backs Kohli to come back stronger from the setback
Furthermore, Irfan Pathan backed Kohli to get out of his rut quickly, opining that the ace batter loved ODI cricket more than any other format, stating that once he gets back to form, there would be no looking back.
“How can he come out of this? He wants to take a single quickly and get off strike. When there are two ducks against your name, you want a run. But he has to ensure to not get desperate. He shouldn’t enjoy batting in the course of getting desperate. He needs to keep enjoying batting. Once he spends time, runs will come and he won’t look back. He likes one-day cricket the most,” Pathan said.
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