The debate over Virat Kohli’s form continues with captain Rohit Sharma once again coming out in support of his predecessor, saying Kohli “does not need reassurance” since he is a great batter. Rohit was “surprised” when he was asked about Kohli’s batting slump at the post-match media conference at Lord’s after the second ODI on Thursday.

India lost by 100 runs as they faltered chasing 247 with Kohli contributing only 16 off 25 balls with three boundaries. But yet again, Kohli perished pushing away from his body to an away-going delivery and edging to the wicketkeeper. “Kyun ho rahi hain, yaar. Matlab mujhe samajh mein nahi aata, bhai (Why is this discussion happening. I can’t understand this),” Rohit replied on Thursday when asked about Kohli’s form or the lack of it. “He (Kohli) has played so many matches. He is playing for so many years. He is such a great batsman so he does not need reassurance,” Rohit said.

“I pointed to this in my last press conference, too... form goes up and down, that is part and parcel of any cricketer’s career.

“So a player like him, who has played for so many years, who has made so many runs, who has won so many matches, he only needs one or two good innings (to bounce back). That is my thinking and I am sure all those who follow cricket will think similarly. Every cricketer has gone through this phase and Kohli is no exception.”

Kohli hasn’t scored an International century since November 2019. He has scored 24 half-centuries since then with the 94 not out against West Indies in a T20I in Hyderabad (December 2019) being his highest. This is the second time Rohit has backed Kohli publicly having spoken up for him after the T20I series in Nottingham. “We do have chats about this topic, but we should also understand and think when we talk about such things. We have seen that the performance of all players goes up and down, but the quality of the player never gets worse. That we all should keep in mind. That is very important. “Yaar, matlab, bande ne itne run banaya hai (he has made so many runs), check his average, how many hundreds he has made, he has (vast) experience of doing that. There is a slump in every player’s life. Even in personal life it comes.”

World Cup-winning captain Kapil Dev recently questioned Kohli’s place in the side wondering why the senior India batter could not be dropped. The BCCI has decided to rest Kohli from the T20I series in the West Indies, starting on July 29, following a request from the cricketer.

The Telegraph reported on Friday that Rohit spoke about his faith in Kohli during the selection committee meeting on Wednesday in London and agreed with chief selector Chetan Sharma that his presence was needed during their T20I World Cup campaign in Australia. England captain Jos Buttler also felt Kohli was “due” for a big innings, which would happen very soon.

“I suppose in a little way it’s quite refreshing for the rest of us that he (Kohli) is human and he can have a couple of low scores as well, but look he has been one of the best players, if not the best player, in ODI cricket in the world,” Buttler said. “So he’s been a fantastic player for so many years and all batters, it just proves, go through runs of form where they don’t perform as well as they can do sometimes.” Buttler also agreed that Kohli was facing undue criticism over his form. “Yeah, incredibly surprised... his record speaks for himself. The matches he’s won for India and yeah, why would you question that?”

Kohli gets Babar vote

Pakistan captain Babar Azam has backed Virat Kohli to come out of his lean patch with the bat. The 27-year-old star batter took to Twitter to send across his message to Kohli. “This too shall pass. Stay strong,” he wrote. Later, when asked about his tweet at a media conference in Galle — Pakistan are touring Sri Lanka for a two Test series — Babar said: “I just feel that in the present situation, Kohli needs support and needs to be backed. I tweeted wishing him best because I know how a player feels when he is going through this period and he needs the support of everyone.” The first Sri Lanka-Pakistan Test begins on Saturday. (PTI)