India captain Rohit Sharma once again defended Virat Kohli after the star batter once again missed out on a good scored after getting off to a start. India lost the second ODI at Lord’s on Thursday by 100 runs as England levelled the series 1-1.
Kohli sat out the first ODI due to a groin strain but passed a fitness test ahead of the second match. Kohli looked in good touch during his 16-run stay but once again was dismissed playing at a delivery he could have left.
The former captain’s form and his place in the side has been a talking point. Before the second match the BCCI also announced the squad for the T20I series against West Indies which did not include Kohli. The board did not say what the reason was behind leaving Kohli out. On the field, he has gone through a period of more than two years now without an international century.
When asked by a journalist – again – about Kohli’s form, Sharma, even before the question was finished, said, “Kyun [charcha] ho rahi hain, yaar. Matlab, mujhe samajh mein nahi aata, bhai. Chalo theek hai, aap puchiye. (Why are we talking about this? I don’t get it, fine anyway, ask your question.)”
Sharma then elaborated when asked about how does a captain deal with a situation like that.
“He (Kohli) has played so many matches. He is playing for so many years. He is such a great batsman so he does not need reassurance,” the India captain said.
“I pointed this in my last press conference, too: form goes up and down, that is part and parcel of any cricketer’s career. So, a player like him, who has played for so many years, who has made so many runs, who has won so many matches, for him, he only needs one or two good innings. That is my thinking and I am sure all those who follow cricket will think similarly.
“We know that people talk about this topic, but you should also understand and think when you talk about such things. We have seen performance of all players goes up and down, but the quality of the player never gets worse. That we all should keep in mind. That is very important. I mean the man has scored so many runs, check his average, how many hundreds he has made, he has experience of doing that. There is a slump in every player’s life. Even in the personal life it comes,” Sharma added.
Better planning for bilaterals
On Wednesday, South Africa forfeited their scheduled three-match ODI series in Australia to accommodate their domestic T20 league. When asked if bilateral series are still important when more and more T20 leagues are being played across the world, Sharma said, “I do think it is important but it can be managed in a better way for sure. The scheduling has to be done with some space as well.”
“You have to play bilateral series. When I was growing up as a kid, I watched a lot of tri-series or quadrangular series, but that has completely stopped. I think that can be a way forward so that there is enough time for a team to recover and get back.
“These all are high-pressure games that we play, whenever you represent your country, you want to come out with a lot of intensity. You do not want to compromise on that so of course, I do understand when we play the bilateral series, the scheduling, time between each game can be managed slightly better, not just from India’s perspective, but all boards.
“If that happens, you see the best quality of players coming out and representing every game. When you play back-to-back games, you have to look after players and understand the workload. Honestly, from the outside world, people want to see all the best players playing and if those things are managed quite well, the quality of cricket will not be compromised,” Sharma said.
One of the things Rohit Sharma had said when taking over as the ODI captain in an interview with bcci.tv is how he wants his team to respond to a 2019 World Cup semifinal type situation where they lose early wickets. That question came up last night as India couldn’t recover from early wickets and lost by 100 runs.
“That is where I want guys to change their mindset a little bit and try to be a little positive, extra positive and try and take the game on,” Sharma said. “Because I know the target is small, you are chasing 230, 240, but is there another way that you can take when you are chasing a target like that? Is there something different you can do as a batting unit? And I think so, yes, you can.”