Former India all-rounder Ajit Agarkar feels Virat Kohli needs to quickly regain his bat-swinging form, where he hasn't been at his best.
Kohli, India's former captain, has been struggling with his form since 2019. Since the pink-ball Test against Bangladesh, he hasn't scored a century in international cricket. Kohli has six half-centuries in his past eight One-Day International innings.
"At the end of the day, you're only as successful as your team, and if you don't win, no matter how good a player you are on the field, it's not fun to be a part of the team."
"We've talked about different combinations before Virat Kohli would be a key factor because of the type of player he is, but he isn't at his best right now, which is a fact, and the faster he finds his form, the easier it will be for Rohit Sharma to manage that thing because of what he (Virat) can do on his own."
"Virat Kohli's form is a cause for concern, but we all know how good of a player he is." So hoping he finds his form sooner rather than later," Agarkar said.
Aakash Chopra, a former India opener, believes Kohli hasn't been his imposing self of late. "You want to convert those 50s into 100s from a personal and individual standpoint because you need to store something for rainy days as well." In terms of runs, he isn't in bad form, but when you see him bat, you don't see the same Virat Kohli. He's not imposing, he's not dominating, he's still scrapping around, he's scoring runs, and that's what all great players do we've seen Sachin, Rahul collect runs, but he's not an accumulator, he's an enforcer. but he's not there yet."
Chopra believes that now that Rohit Sharma has been named the white-ball captain, Kohli will have to adjust his style to fit the new skipper's attitude. "But the one thing I really want to see now is Rohit Sharma establishing his authority and playing the style of cricket he wants to play." Virat Kohli, too, must subscribe to the same mentality. And if you've established a different mentality, it can sometimes feel free because you're not worrying about things like, "Ok, I need to score or I need to achieve this." This is something that we must all undertake together.'
"And that is what I am waiting to see, whether it releases and liberates Virat Kohli, whether he gets out on 50 or scores 50 off 55 balls, doesn't matter if he scores a century or finishes games off, as a captain, you've done it all along. It's no longer your only work, and your responsibilities have moved a bit."