IPL 2022: Virat Kohli needs a break, cannot lose his services with a fried brain: Ravi Shastri

Former Indian head coach Ravi Shastri believes Virat Kohli needs a break from competitive cricket and India cannot afford to lose his services with a fried brain. Kohli has been playing continuously in the last decade and he hasn’t scored a hundred in his last 100 matches, including the IPL.

Kohli hasn’t been in the best of forms and he would need to turn the corner for Royal Challengers Bangalore in the ongoing IPL 2022. The talisman had scored his last International hundred back in 2019 in the pink-ball Test match against Bangladesh.

Meanwhile, Kohli was dismissed for a golden duck against Lucknow Super Giants at the Dr. DY Sports Academy, Mumbai on Tuesday. The right-hander scooped the ball straight to the backward point fielder on the first ball he faced to continue his dismal show.

With players playing under the bio bubble due to Covid-19, Shastri feels it is imperative to manage them from a mental aspect. Shastri, who shares a great bonhomie with Virat Kohli, feels the talisman still has six to seven years of cricket left in him but he needs a break at this point in his career.

“When I was 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,” Ravi Shastri told Star Sports.

“I am going straight to the main guy here. Virat Kohli is overcooked. If anyone needs a break, it’s him.

“Whether it’s 2 months or a month-and-a-half, whether it’s after England or before England. “He needs a break because he has got 6-7 years of cricket left in him and you don’t want to lose that with a fried brain. He is not the only one. There might be 1 or 2 in world cricket going through the same. You need to address the problem upfront,” Shastri said.

On the other hand, former England captain Kevin Pietersen also spoke on the same lines. Pietersen feels Kohli should turn off his social media accounts and should take a break from the game.

“100 percent correct, Ravi. The guy has had so much to deal with, from marriage to baby to media scrutiny and all in his personal life. He is the biggest star on the show.

“Virat Kohli needs to say ‘cricket boots, for six months, I will see you later. Turn off social media, go and get re-energized. When the stadiums are full again, you guarantee him a spot in that side for the next 12, 24 or 36 months. Tell him ‘you’re our guy, we know you’ll deliver for us’.

“I think he is going to find it very hard to continue delivering now. His brain, as Ravi Shastri said, is completely fried,” Pietersen said.

RCB will next face Sunrisers Hyderabad on Saturday.