Kapil Dev believes India captain Virat Kohli needs to practice more since he has crossed the age of 30. The 1983 World Cup-winning skipper reflected on Kohli’s performance on the New Zealand tour in an interview with ABP News.
“When you reach a certain age, when you cross 30 then it affects your eyesight. In-swingers, which used to be his [Kohli’s] strength, he used to flick them for four but now he has been dismissed twice. So I think he needs to adjust his eyesight a bit,” said Dev.
Kohli had a horrendous tour of New Zealand by his lofty standards. He scored a total of 218 runs in 11 innings (four T20Is, three ODIs and four Tests) and looked far from his best throughout. This was a major factor in India losing the ODI series 0-3 and the Tests 0-2.
“When big players start getting bowled or LBW to incoming deliveries then you have to tell them to practice more. It shows that your eyes and your reflexes have slowed down a bit. From 18-24, your eyesight is at the optimum level but after that, it depends on how you work on it,” said Dev.
“So Kohli needs to practice more. When your eyesight weakens then you have to tighten up your technique more. The same ball which he used pounce on so quickly, he’s getting late on it now.”
The legendary all-rounder believes the upcoming edition of the Indian Premier League will help Kohli regain his confidence.
“I think IPL will help him. He will start getting the hang of it. He’s a great cricketer, he will definitely realises it himself and make adjustments,” said the 61-year-old.