Former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan has spoken about the criticism directed at Virat Kohli in the latter half of his international Test career as the batter failed to deliver consistent performances with the bat. Notably, Kohli last played the five-match Test series in Australia where he scored just 190 runs, including a century.
More than Kohli’s dismissals, it was the manner in which he got out that became a talking point, with the batter consistently nicking deliveries outside the fourth/fifth stump line.
Kohli eventually called quits on his international Test career just ahead of the squad selection for the England Test series, and he now remains available only for ODI cricket.
Irfan Pathan on criticising Kohli:
In a recent interaction with Lallantop, Pathan said that when a great player has his first slump he should be backed, but not if it continues for a long period of time.
“If you look at my social media, there was Virat Kohli‘s slump in 2019-20. At that time, it was said that it was the time of COVID, and he wasn’t getting inspiration. I thought that when a player of big stature undergoes their first slump, then they should be backed. If you look at my social media, I backed him a lot. One, he deserved it, and he won a lot of matches. If the slump continues for five years, then it’s not right,” Pathan told the publication.
Pathan further noted that the team’s success should come first and while Kohli remained a champion player, he was still getting out in a similar fashion.
“Eventually, the team has to be at the top. The team is No. 1; we play for the team, we play to win games. If a batsman gets out in a similar manner, the opposition team plans accordingly. They won’t go to plan B. They will get you out using plan A. If you’re a champion player, then you’ve to take them from plan A to plan B. The problem with Virat in Test cricket was that he was getting out similarly every now and then. That doesn’t mean he’s a bad player; he’s a champion player, but it’s happening. You’ve to explain what you are seeing in detail,” Pathan said.
