Kapil Dev Wants Out-of-Form Virat Kohli To ‘Adjust His Eyesight’

The former skipper of the Indian National Cricket Team Kapil Dev feels Virat Kohli needs to work on his eyesight, as he had already crossed 30 years of his age. He felt the top-ranked batsman Kohli was dismissed to inswingers on pads, which he used to flick to boundaries on regular days.

India captain Kohli, arguably the best batsmen in the world scored 38 runs and averaged 9.50 in the two Tests against New Zealand.

In his last 11 innings across formats, the sequence of scores read 45, 11, 38, 11 (T20s); 51, 15, 9 (ODIs), 2 and 19 (1st Test) and 3 and 14 (2nd Test).

The New Zealand tour was forgettable for Virat Kohli. He could score only one half-century across 11 innings in the all the three formats and the lack of runs in the Test series was one of the biggest factors behind India’s struggle. He even lost his number one spot in the ICC Test rankings.

When you cross 30 then it affects your eyesight: Kapil Dev

Speaking of the same, the 1983 World Cup-winning skipper Dev believes that this could be because Kohli’s reflexes and his eyesight might have slowed down and hence, he now needs to go back and practice more against the straight deliveries.

“When you reach a certain age, when you cross 30 then it affects your eyesight. In swings, which used to be his strength, he used to flick them four but now he has been dismissed twice. So I think he needs to adjust his eyesight a bit. 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 and in no time your strengths turn into your weakness,” Kapil said on ABP news.

Virat Kohli needs to practice more: Kapil Dev

Dev further felt that many legendary cricketers faced a similar problem in the twilight stages of their career.

He wants Kohli to follow his seniors, who worked on it and achieved success.

“From 18-24, your eyesight is at the optimum level but after that, it depends on how you work on it. Sehwag, Dravid, Viv Richards, you name it, all faced similar difficulties in their career. 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,” he further added.