Former Pakistan spinner Danish Kaneria feels that Virat Kohli made a wrong decision by missing international matches. Kohli has been going through a lean patch with the bat as he failed to manufacture big runs this year across formats and his last international century came way back in 2019. He also had an underwhelming IPL 2022 where he scored just 341 runs in 16 innings at an average of 22.73 for Royal Challengers Bangalore.
After IPL 2022, Kohli missed the five-match T20I series against South Africa, West Indies tour and three-match ODI series against Zimbabwe which put him under the scanner as many feel that the batting maestro should play more matches to get his form back.
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Kaneria emphasized on Kohli losing the captaincy and his issues with the BCCI in recent times and suggested that the batting maestro needs to focus on cricket.
“The only thing is Virat Kohli is struggling and the time period has gone too far. It’s like three years and all the dilemma. After the 2021 T20 World Cup, he lost his captaincy (in ODIs) and then the board issues and statements came in the media. Too much happened. I think he needs to focus more on cricket, on his batting and if he wants to play for a few more years he needs to perform." Kaneria told India Today.
The former spinner said that Kohli should have skipped IPL matches to manage his workload and played more international matches including the recently concluded five-match T20I series against West Indies.
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“I think he has done wrong by missing international matches. He should have skipped some IPL games but should not have skipped international cricket because international cricket could have brought him back into the form. The five T20Is against West Indies were crucial for him and he should have come up and played in that series," he added.
Kohli will return in Indian colours in the upcoming Asia Cup where the Men in Blue will start their campaign against arch-rival Pakistan on August 28.
However, Kaneria feels that Kohli will be under pressure to perform in the multi-nation format as he will enter the tournament without much match practice.
“Lack of match practice could impact his performance (at Asia Cup). He hasn’t played after the England series. Maybe he could have played domestic cricket in England to get his form back. He will be coming fresh now at Asia Cup. From there we have to see whether he will be able to perform or not. It will be a big pressured game for him. I’m hoping for him to come and put on a big show on a big day with big runs," he said.
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