"Is there slight pressure on Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli?" - Aakash Chopra on duo heading into IND vs NZ 2024 Test series
Aakash Chopra has questioned whether Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma would be under pressure heading into the Test series between India and New Zealand. He pointed out that the duo dished out underwhelming performances in the recent two-Test series against Bangladesh.
India will face New Zealand in three Tests, with the first game starting in Bengaluru on Wednesday, October 16. The final two Tests will be played in Pune and Mumbai, respectively.
In a video shared on his YouTube channel 'Aakash Chopra', the former India opener wondered whether Kohli and Rohit would be under pressure due to their recent lean run.
"Is there slight pressure on Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli because the last Test series was extremely ordinary according to their standards? The next Test series is the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, so you want to score runs and move forward," he said (0:01).
Chopra acknowledged that Kohli was among the runs in the second Test against Bangladesh but added that he wasn't at his fluent best.
"Although Virat Kohli scored runs in the last innings, when we talk about the Kanpur Test, but the flow wasn't seen. The dominance, silken touch and rhythm you expect from Virat Kohli wasn't seen," he observed.
The cricketer-turned-commentator reckons the lack of consistent cricket might be hampering the modern batting great.
"He is not playing a lot of cricket. Generally, you come after playing consistently, play T20s in the middle, so the rhythm is maintained. You have left T20s. You played only ODI cricket in Sri Lanka. That was in August first week and after that, nothing in August and the entire September, and now October, and a lot of runs have not been scored," Chopra noted.
Kohli managed only 23 runs across his two innings in the first Test against Bangladesh in Chennai. He played a 47-run knock in the first innings in Kanpur and remained unbeaten on 29 in the second essay.
"Who knows the Bengaluru pitch better than Virat Kohli?" - Aakash Chopra
In the same video, Aakash Chopra opined that Virat Kohli returning to his IPL home ground might help his cause.
"You are out of rhythm at times as you lack game time. There can't be a better place than this if you want game time. We generally make good pitches in Bengaluru, a good pitch will be expected, and who knows the Bengaluru pitch better than Virat Kohli? So the expectation is that Kohli will score runs because we all want him to score runs," he said (2:10).
The 47-year-old reckons Kohli and Rohit Sharma won't have any external pressure but would have expectations from themselves.
"I am not saying there is any pressure. However, the pressure you put on yourself is there, that he needs to score runs if he is playing, and his own standards are very high. The same goes for Rohit Sharma. The last series was not good and for some strange reason, his record against Bangladesh is not good," Chopra observed.
Chopra doesn't expect Rohit to play the big shots he was attempting in the Kanpur Test against Bangladesh. He sees the Indian skipper leaving deliveries outside the off-stump and giving himself time.