Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli
Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli (Image Credit: Twitter)

India National Cricket Team captain Rohit Sharma defended modern-day great Virat Kohli, who has been going through an unprecedented lengthy lean patch and slammed the critics of the former India captain at a press conference after the three-match T20I series against the England National Cricket Team.

Virat Kohli hasn’t had a good run with the bat in the ongoing India tour of England 2022. So far, he has batted in 4 innings, including 2 in Tests and 2 in T20Is, and he has registered the highest score of 20.

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Kohli
Virat Kohli With A Straight Six Image Source – Twitter

After being rested for the first T20I, Kohli returned to the playing XI for the second game and scored only 1 run off 3 balls, before being dismissed by Richard Gleeson. In the third T20I, he scored 11 runs off 6 balls, including 1 four and 1 six, before being dismissed by David Willey.

Also, a few former cricketers, including the likes of Kapil Dev, Ajay Jadeja, and Venkatesh Prasad have questioned Kohli’s place in the Indian T20I team after his consecutive failures.

At a press conference after the third T20I, Rohit said that the so-called cricket experts don’t know what’s happening inside the team.

“It’s not difficult at all for us (Kohli’s place in the XI) because we don’t listen to outside noise. Also, I don’t know who these experts are and why they’re called experts. I don’t get that,” said Sharma.

“They are seeing from outside, they don’t know what’s happening inside the team. We have a thought process, we make the team, we debate and discuss it, and think a lot about it. The players [we pick] are backed, they are given opportunities. People on the outside don’t know about it. So it’s more important about what’s happening within our team, that’s important for me,” he added.

All the batters who are part of this squad are willing to take that extra risk – Rohit Sharma

Rohit Sharma PC
Photo Credit: (BCCI)

India have adopted a fresh approach in T20I cricket in the series against England, which is to go after the bowlers from the start itself, and the aggressive approach has been very beneficial for the side.

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India captain Rohit Sharma said that all the batters, who are in the squad, are “willing to take that extra risk”.

“We, as a team, want to play in a certain way and every player needs to buy into that thought process otherwise, you know, it’s not gonna happen for you.

“And all the batters who are part of this squad are willing to take that extra risk and go and see what extra they can do with the bat. You know, it’s important to find out within yourself, to try and do different kinds of things and unless you try it you will never be able to find out. So I think it is something that we’ve been trying to do for a while now.”

Meanwhile, India lost the third T20I by 17 runs and Suryakumar Yadav’s century went in vain. However, the dominant victories in the first two games ensured India a series victory by 2-1.

Virat Kohli (Image Credits: Twitter)
Virat Kohli (Image Credits: Twitter)

Also Read: Watch: Virat Kohli Goes For Another Low Score As He Gets Dismissed For 11 In 3rd T20I vs England

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Sonanchal Gautam is the Assistant Content Manager at Cricketaddictor. He is a professional Wrestling and Hip-hop enthusiast.