IND vs ENG: Usman Khawaja Disagrees With Kapil Dev's Remarks On Virat Kohli

Usman Khawaja, an Australian cricketer, has publicly backed Virat Kohli after the former India captain’s run drought drew criticism from Kapil Dev, another legendary figure in Indian cricket.

The World Cup-winning captain believed that Virat Kohli was no longer necessary for T20Is following his protracted rough patch if a bowler of Ravichandran Ashwin’s calibre, who has around 450 Test wickets, could be omitted from the Test team’s starting eleven. 

Might Be Forced To Bench Virat Kohli From T20 Playing XI: Kapil Dev

Since his last big run was almost three years ago, Kohli has been out of the spotlight. The World Cup-winning all-rounder believes that the management of the Indian team will be doing them a disservice if they don’t allow in-form players enough opportunity to show off their talents. 

“Yes, now the situation is such that you might be forced to bench Kohli from T20 playing eleven. If world No. 2 bowler Ashwin can be dropped from Test side then (once upon a time) world No. 1 batter can also be dropped,” Kapil told ABP News. 

“Virat is not batting at a level which we have seen him do over the years. He has made a name because of his performances but if he isn’t performing, then you can’t keep the performing youngsters out of the team.

I want competition for places in the team in a positive sense that these youngsters should try and outperform Virat,” said the legendary cricketer. 

Usman Khwaja Disagrees With Kapil Dev

Usman Khawaja made a comment on ICC’s Instagram page at the same time that appeared to contradict Dev’s assertions. “Averages 50 at almost 140. Good call, Australia agrees,” commented the cricketer. 

For a while now, Virat Kohli has been having run-scoring issues. In the IPL 2022, he scored 341 runs in 16 games, but throughout the previous 12 months, he only managed one fifty. The last time he played against England, in 2021, he was the series’ leading scorer, so his statistics aren’t all that horrible. 

Also Read: IND vs ENG: Richard Gleeson Optimistic On His T20 World Cup Chances – “If I Keep Performing, Anything Could Happen”