"At the moment, good form keeps going away from him" - Danish Kaneria on Virat Kohli's poor set of scores during England tour
Former Pakistan spinner Danish Kaneria believes Virat Kohli's poor form is putting pressure on the rest of the batting unit.
Kohli's string of poor scores continued as he endured yet another lackluster outing in the third ODI against England in Manchester on Sunday (July 17).
Much like his innings in the second ODI at Lord's, the former Indian skipper assessed the wicket well before scoring a couple of boundaries. However, Kohli once again fell prey to the channel outside the off-stump and perished for 17 off 22 deliveries, bringing the curtains down on a forgettable tour.
Brilliant run chase and a great series win. 🇮🇳🏆 https://t.co/Mcu2KSxct6
Stating that with each passing innings, good form looks to be edging further and further away from Virat Kohli, Kaneria said on his YouTube channel:
"Virat Kohli is a great player, but for a while now there has been a load on the team since the runs are not coming. If runs are not coming in from the top order, someone has to get in."
Kaneria added:
"He has to take a step back, we all want him to come back stronger. At the moment, good form keeps going away from him."
The 33-year-old compiled only 76 runs across six innings on the tour of England. This also marked the first instance where Kohli failed to get past 20 runs in four consecutive ODI innings.
Virat Kohli is doing everything right, but nothing is going his way: Danish Kaneria
Virat Kohli has been short of runs across formats in what is shaping up to be one of the worst calendar years of his career. He also had a poor 2022 Indian Premier league (IPL) campaign, where he played as an opener as well as at No. 3 for the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB).
That Winning Feeling! 👏 🏆
Congratulations to #TeamIndia on winning the three-match ODI series. 👍 👍
#ENGvIND https://t.co/fKV5MUuEn6
Advising Kohli to go back to his coach to rectify the issue, Kaneria said:
"He needs to take a step back and figure out what the problem is. He needs to go back to his coach, only he can rectify this issue."
The former leg spinner opined that taking a break was not the solution and concluded:
"There is no point in taking a rest for a series, he could have taken a break during the IPL. Players have become stale after playing so much cricket. Kohli is doing everything right, but nothing is going his way.
Following the culmination of the England tour, Kohli is likely to next be seen in the 2022 Asia Cup. He is being rested for the entire white-ball tour of the Caribbean, beginning on July 22.