‘Why is there even a discussion on his form?’: Rohit Sharma defends Virat Kohli after another failure

India captain Rohit Sharma has once again defended Virat Kohli, saying that he doesn’t need any reassurance after the star batter’s recent failure at Lord’s.

Kohli has been enduring a poor run in international cricket and has failed to make much of an impact in the ongoing tour of England. The 33-year-old failed to make an impact in the rearranged Test and T20I series.

Kohli missed the first match of the ODI series due to an injury and his return to the playing lineup ended on a sour note on Thursday.

The former Indian captain was dismissed for just 16 runs in 25 balls as he knicked one to Jos Buttler off the bowling of David Willey. India ultimately ended up losing the match by 100 runs as Reece Topley put in a Man Of The Match performance and bagged six wickets for just 24 runs.

Rohit, who stood up for his teammate ahead of the first ODI, has again backed Virat Kohli and told reporters: “Virat Kohli doesn’t need reassurance from him as he is too good a player.”

“Why is there even a debate or discussion on Virat Kohli’s form. Like i said in the last press conference. When someone is scoring consistently for so long, we can’t overlook his contribution if he is not scoring in one or two series or in one or two years. We know the importance of Virat Kohli,” said Rohit.

“Form upar neeche hota hai, player (Virat Kohli) ka quality kabhi kharab nahi hota hai. (There will always be ups and downs in the cricketer’s form but players’ quality will never fade away.) We should always keep this in mind that there is a quality in certain players and we as a team back that quality. Every cricketer goes through this rough phase, it is a part and parcel our lives,” he added.

England captain Jos Buttler, too, had extended his support for Virat Kohli after the second ODI.

“I am incredibly surprised by the criticism he is getting,” said Buttler.

“It is quite refreshing for the rest of us that he (Kohli) is human and he too can have a couple of low scores. He is one of the best players if not the best player in ODI cricket. He has been a fantastic player for so many years. As a captain you will always back the class of Virat Kohli,” said Buttler.

After winning the first ODI by ten wickets, India suffered a 100-run loss in the second. The decider of the three-match ODI series will be played at Old Trafford on Sunday.

With Thanks Refrence to: Indianexpress(https://indianexpress.com/article/sports/cricket/ind-vs-eng-why-is-there-even-a-discussion-on-his-form-rohit-sharma-defends-virat-kohli-after-another-failure-8030423/),indiatoday(https://www.indiatoday.in/sports/cricket/story/eng-vs-ind-india-captain-rohit-sharma-defends-virat-kohli-after-lord-s-failure-he-does-not-need-reassurance-1975807-2022-07-15)