Virat Kohli's childhood coach refutes Kapil Dev's calls for his exclusion from T20I team

Former India captain Virat Kohli's childhood coach Rajkumar Sharma has responded to Kapil Dev's latest comment, where he called for Kohli's exclusion from the T20I squad. Kapil Dev on Saturday said Kohli should be dropped from the T20I squad given his prolonged bad patch in all formats of the game. The 1983 World Cup-winning captain said youngsters who are in good form should be given an opportunity in place of Kohli. 

Rajkumar has made it clear that he disagrees with Kapil's statements on Kohli. He questioned why there was such a rush with Kohli when he has served the nation so brilliantly for so long. Rajkumar stated that getting 70 international centuries is not a simple accomplishment and that he does not believe Kohli will be benched by BCCI.

"I do not support the statements made by Kapil Dev on Virat Kohli. Nothing big happened with Virat that such kind of statement has been issued. Why is there so much hurry with Virat, he has done so well for the country. Making 70 international centuries is not a small thing. I do not think the board will make a decision to have him sit on the bench," Rajkumar was quoted as saying by ANI.

Earlier, Kapil Dev had reportedly stated that the time is right to drop Kohli from the T20I squad citing the example of Ravichandran Ashwin, saying that if the World No. 2 bowler can be dropped from the Test side then World No. 1 batter can also be dropped. Although Kohli is not the World's No. 1 batter anymore, he is still regarded as one of the best batters in the world.

Will Kohli be dropped from the T20I squad?

Earlier, there had been speculations that if Kohli didn't make runs against England, he would be dropped for the T20I series against the West Indies. A different report, however, claimed that Kohli himself asked for a break from the T20I series against the West Indies and promised not to take any more holidays after that.

Kohli has been struggling for form for the past couple of years as he has failed to score consistent runs for his side in all formats. Kohli has not scored a century since 2019, which has led to questions being raised about his place in the national squad. Kohli was dismissed for just 1 run in the second T20I against England on Saturday. 

Image: PTI/ANI