New Delhi: Virat Kohli, a key figure in India’s batting lineup, has faced severe criticism for his poor showing in the recent Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia. Apart from his century in the second innings at Perth, Kohli managed only 90 runs across his previous eight innings.
His persistent tendency to chase deliveries outside the off stump led to his downfall again, with bowlers like Scott Boland, Josh Hazlewood, and Mitchell Starc exploiting this weakness.
After India’s 1-3 defeat to Australia, numerous critics have raised doubts about Kohli’s position in the Test side, with some social media users even involving his actress wife, Anushka Sharma, in the conversation. Navjot Singh Sidhu, the former Indian cricketer, hit back at these critics in a discussion on Sports Tak. He urged Kohli to stay focused on his game and work on improving his performance.
“You know, someone’s bad form has come, for two months. You can’t delete it. The services he’s been performing for so long, I know that you cannot rest on your laurels. You have to refresh them with new ones. But you have to give allowance. Mark Taylor kept failing for one and a half years. Persistent. Azharuddin kept failing. Ganguly failed eight innings. And he said, I can fail in 8 innings, but it takes just one innings for me to come back,” said Sidhu.
“Six months ago, you both won the World Cup. Right? And now, all the cricket is one-day cricket. Rohit Sharma won the World Cup. Virat Kohli won the World Cup. You will only have faith in both of them. And the rest… Tell me. The other five were the top players who played Kookaburra Red Ball. Right? Who showed consistency? It’s a team game. Blaming is the easiest thing. It’s easy to hit stones. But some people make their homes from the stones that the world hits.”
“Sidhu further stressed that it is wrong to bring in the cricketers’ family to troll the stars. “These are such people. This is not the first time that Virat Kohli has been in crisis. This is not the first time that his wife is dragged in between. Right? This is wrong. We must learn to respect our heroes. Have some patience. And, I mean, you will understand. Look, the darker the night, the brighter the star. So I think that these were three eras. And in these eras too, everyone had a bad time,” he remarked.
It remains uncertain if Virat Kohli will receive backing from the selectors after a disappointing 2024 season, where he averaged only 24.52 in ten Tests. Following 123 Test appearances, his career average has dropped to 46.85.
