"I agree that Virat Kohli hasn't scored..." - Ex-India coach defends under-fire batsman and slams his critics

Virat Kohli is in the firing line of the critics once again after making a dismal start to his campaign in the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup 2024.

A lot was expected from Virat Kohli after his stunning campaign in the IPL this year but he has failed to live up to the expectations. The critics started sharpening their knives since he was granted an extended break after the IPL and he was not a part of the group that left India for New York. He linked up with the team towards the end of the last month and skipped the warm-up game against Bangladesh as well.

Virat Kohli was already in the firing line for skipping the warm-up game and his poor performance with the bat in the World Cup so far has only given the critics more reason to take shots at him. The former India skipper was out for just 1 run off 5 balls against Ireland,

In the second game against Pakistan, he could score only 4 runs before failing with the bat against the USA as well. The right-handed batsman's weakness against outgoing delivery was on display again as Saurabh Netravalkar made him edge one behind the stumps and sent him back for a golden duck.

Sanjay Bangar defends Virat Kohli:

With Virat Kohli facing criticism from several quarters after scoring only 5 runs in three games, former India allrounder and coach Sanjay Bangar has leaped in his defense. Bangar highlighted that all the batters have struggled for runs in New York and Kohli alone should not be judged on the basis of his performance at the venue. Bangar also backed Kohli to roar back to form soon.

"Yeah, I agree that Virat Kohli hasn't scored in the New York leg, but none of the other batsmen have also managed to score a lot of runs on this track.

"This is a tricky surface, and therefore, I feel that a big score is just around the corner. He is a player who has excelled at the World Cup events and once the tournament moves to the next phase, those competitive juices will start flowing again and he will start putting up performances for his team," Bangar told Star Sports.

Before the T20 World Cup, Kohli enjoyed a stellar campaign in the IPL. He finished the campaign as the highest run-scorer, scoring 741 runs with the help of a century and five fifties. Meanwhile, India have already booked their spot in the Super 8s by winning their first three games and will take on Canada in their last group game.