Former South African skipper Faf du Plessis has put his weight behind Virat Kohli to bounce back in form after latter’s poor show in the Border-Gavaskar series against Australia. Kohli could only manage 190 runs in five Test matches at a paltry average of 23.75.

The veteran batter failed to control his issue of meddling with the outside off-stump deliveries and it led to his downfall. In nine innings, Kohli was caught behind on eight occasions. 

Faf, who has observed Kohli from close quarters while playing with him for Royal Challengers Bengaluru, said the Indian batter has seen this phase before and backed him to get out of the rut.

“I know someone like him is super super motivated, he’s gone through it all before, so he knows exactly what to do,” Faf told PTI, believing that Virat Kohli knows how to come back.

“That is very, very personal. No one can speak to you about when that time is (up) as a player, you’ll know,” Faf said when asked if Kohli should decide to retire.

Faf recalled when he decided to call time on his Test career.

“It is different for every player. Every player needs to answer that question. I remember when that time was for me,” he stated.

The former South African captain admitted he no longer had the hunger and passion to keep playing in the red-ball format.

“I just knew that certainly from the Test cricket perspective for me. I didn’t have that same hunger and drive anymore and I felt that that stage certainly for me was a good time to let new guys come in and also step into the T20 world. I wanted to do that at the stage where I still felt like I was on top of my game,” he concluded.

Meanwhile, Faf Du Plessis was roped in by Delhi Capitals (DC) at his base price of Rs 2 crore in IPL 2025 mega auction.