Virat Kohli Form: Indian legends Kapil, Gavaskar QUESTION Virat Kohli’s place in the Indian team, foreigners Jos Buttler, Babar Azam, Michael Vaughan BAT for KOHLI: Check OUT

Virat Kohli Form: It is almost 1000 days since Virat Kohli scored a century and questions regarding his place in the side continue to grow. The former India captain has struggled over the past couple of years and the India tour of England has been no different. In the five innings across formats. the 33-year-old’s best has been just 20. Follow India vs England live updates on Insidesport.IN

As Kohli struggles to find his groove back, the cricketing fraternity has been divided in what could be the correct course of action for the former Indian captain. While several Indian experts have opined that Kohli should be dropped, experts overseas have argued that Kohli should continue playing and work his way back into rhythm.

Former Indian captains Sunil Gavaskar and Kapil Dev have called out the preferential treatment given to some Indian team stars including Virat Kohli. After the completion of the 3rd ODI on Sunday, Kohli will again have an extended rest from the tour of West Indies, before returning to the Asia Cup. Gavaskar said that the BCCI will have to draw a line somewhere.

Meanwhile, Kapil Dev believes the former Indian captain doesn’t fit in India’s scheme of things in T20s and should be dropped regardless of his reputation. Dev added that when a player of Ashwin’s calibre can be dropped in Tests, the same could apply to Kohli.

“Yes, now the situation is such that you might be forced to bench Kohli from T20 playing eleven. If world No. 2 bowler Ashwin can be dropped from Test side then (once upon a time) world No. 1 batter can also be dropped,” Kapil told a news channel.

Venkatesh Prasad also lashed out at Kohli citing an example of how Ganguly and Sehwag made comebacks by playing domestic cricket. “There was a time when if you were out of form, you would be dropped irrespective of reputation. Sourav (Ganguly), (Virender) Sehwag, Yuvraj (Singh), Zaheer (Khan) and Harbhajan Singh all have been dropped when not in form. They went back to domestic cricket, scored runs and staged a comeback,” Prasad tweeted.

While the Indian experts have called for Kohli’s sacking, the former Indian captain has found support and encouragement from his rivals with both Babar Azam and Jos Buttler backing India’s No.3 to come good. Azam put out a tweet after the Lord’s ODI asking Kohli to stay strong backing him to overcome the tough phase.

On Friday, he spoke further about the same and said, “As a player, I can go through times like these. At such times, you need support. I sent that tweet just to show support. He is one of the best players there is, and he knows how to get out of this. It might take a bit of time, and the more we back him, the better.”

England captain Jos Buttler was also of the same opinion and rallied behind the struggling Indian maverick. 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, but certainly as an opposition captain, you know a player of that class is always due, so you’re hoping that it doesn’t come against us.”

Michael Vaughan meanwhile suggested that Virat Kohli needs a break from the game. The former England captain said that it was nothing to do with Kohli’s technique but probably his mindset. He said, ”

Virat Kohli Form: Indian legends Kapil, Gavaskar QUESTION Virat Kohli’s place in the Indian team, foreigners Jos Buttler, Babar Azam, Michael Vaughan BAT for KOHLI: Check OUT