Former Indian cricketer Vivek Razdan has urged the Indian selectors to not rest an in-form player and feels Virat Kohli has once again started to struggle. Kohli found his form in the T20 World Cup as he amassed 296 runs in six matches at an average of 98.67 and a strike rate of 136.41.
The talisman had finished as the leading run-getter of the tournament. However, Kohli was rested for the New Zealand tour and recently made a return to action in the ongoing three-match ODI series against Bangladesh.
But Kohli has failed to deliver in the first two matches against the Tigers. The linchpin was dismissed after scoring nine runs in the first game and he could only manage five runs while opening in the second match on Wednesday.
Razdan, who is known for his poetic commentary, has urged the Indian management and board to stop experimentation.
“I would like to make just one suggestion. Stop experimenting,” Razdan said while on-air during the 2nd ODI in Dhaka. “In the past few months, we have seen this happening. Time to halt this line of thinking. There’s been too much of experimentation. Still, there’s a lot of time before the ODI World Cup.”
In fact, a total of 35 players have made their debuts for India in the last three years, which is definitely a big number.
“Need to understand another thing. When a player is in form, don’t rest him. Let him play. Look at Virat Kohli – he was in good form at the T20 World Cup but then you rested him from the New Zealand tour. Now, he has started struggling again,” Razdan pointed out.
He continued, “A player gets into form by playing (regularly). So please do not rest a player the moment he gets in form. World Cup is now a few months away. A team should have been finalised by now that would play your first match (of the tournament). You would want every player to get into form before that.”
India has been experimenting a lot given their squad’s depth. In 2022, India used 34 players in 22 ODI matches, which is the most for any team.
India was not at their best in the first two matches against Bangladesh and it led to their downfall. The third and final game of the series will be played on Saturday.
