‘Hum bhi ek aise khiladi ke saath khela karte the’: Virender Sehwag on Virat Kohli’s form – Firstcricket News, Firstpost

Virat Kohli is back in Team India’s playing XI for the second ODI against England at Lord’s, after having missed out on the first ODI due to a groin injury. Such has been the case that when Virat Kohli takes centre-stage with the bat, be it any format, there are always expectations from cricket fans and experts alike.

Kohli, however, has not scored an international century for nearly three years now, his last one coming against Bangladesh in a Test back in November 2019. His lack of consistency with the bat has seen the legendary Kapil Dev criticise the former India skipper’s place in the team, with Dev calling for him to be dropped from the T20I side. However, the likes of current India skipper Rohit Sharma and Kohli’s childhood coach Rajkumar Sharma have come out in support of the Delhi cricketer.

Former India opener Virender Sehwag too joined in on the discussion, recalling the instance of Sachin Tendulkar, and likening him to Kohli as far as the latter’s current form is concerned.

“I think everybody is waiting for a hundred from him, which hasn’t come for a long time. If you take a look at his past record, he used to score a hundred in every 3-4 matches, that hasn’t happened for some time now and maybe that is why there is so much talk about it. Hum bhi ek aise khiladi k saath khela karte the jinka naam Sachin Tendulkar hai (we used to play with another such cricketer, whose name is Sachin Tendulkar),” Sehwag told to broadcasters Sony Sports.

“If he hadn’t scored runs for 3-4 innings, there used to be discussion used to reach a stage where it felt like he hadn’t scored for long. He also used to score in every 3-4 innings, the same is with Virat Kohli,” he added.

Kohli did score two fifties against South Africa in South Africa during the ODI series earlier this year, but his recent slump in form has been a worrying sign for the Men in Blue.

Kohli, who has been rested for the T20I series against West Indies, will now look to make a strong comeback in the second ODI. India earlier won the toss at Lord’s and opted to field. At the time of writing, England were 101/4 from 21 overs, with Liam Livingstone and Ben Stokes in the middle.