‘He has 6-7 years of cricket left in him and you don’t want to lose that’: Ravi Shastri on Virat Kohli

Virat Kohli has been going through a rough patch with the bat. He has not been scoring big runs for about a couple of years and the whole cricketing world is waiting for the King’s much-anticipated return to form.

The former Indian coach Ravi Shastri recently spoke about Kohli’s draught of runs. He feels that Kohli is overcooked and needs rest to ensure the longevity of his career. The statement from Shastri came on the back of another failure of Kohli in his latest Indian T20 League appearance.

Kohli was a part of Bangalore’s last match against Lucknow in the 31^st match of the Indian T20 League 2022 at the DY Patil Stadium in Mumbai. He came out to bat in the first over of Bangalore’s innings after opener Anuj Rawat was dismissed by Dusmantha Chameera. In the very first ball of his innings, Kohli guided an outgoing delivery by Chameera to Deepak Hooda stationed at the point region.

The Bangalore fans were stunned as Kohli walked back. His lack of form is becoming a concern as he has been nowhere near his peak in the last couple of years. His last international century came in 2019 and the wait for his 71^st has now become frustrating for the fans to say the least. Amidst the batter’s tough times, Ravi Shastri, who was known to have a great bond with Kohli feels that the bio-bubble fatigue is getting the better of him.

In a conversation with Star Sports, Shastri said- “When I was the coach at the time when this first started, the first thing I said is ‘you have to show empathy to the guys.’ If you’re going to be forceful, there is a very thin line there, from a guy losing the plot as opposed to him hanging in there and giving his best. So, you have to be extremely careful.”

“I am going straight to the main guy here. Virat Kohli is overcooked. If anyone needs a break, it’s him. Whether it’s two months or a month-and-a-half, whether it’s after England or before England,”- he further added.

Shastri also said that he feels there are about six to seven years of cricket still left in Virat Kohli. In his opinion, BCCI should look to provide ample rest to the batter so that such a wonderful resource of Indian cricket is not exhausted early.