New Delhi, Feb 21 (IANS) Former India captain and head coach Anil Kumble feels that Virat Kohli is “trying too hard” to come out of his lean patch after he scored 22 off 38 against Bangladesh in the Champions Trophy clash in Dubai on Thursday.
Kohli failed to convert his start to a big knock and fell victim to leg-spinner Rishad Hossain. However, opener Shubman Gill’s unbeaten 101 combined with KL Rahul’s 41 powered India to a six-wicket win.
Meanwhile, Kohli’s sluggish form has been a concern for the Indian team as the former captain has managed just 137 runs in the six ODI innings he has played after the 2023 World Cup, with a single half-century. His struggles were persistent during India’s five-match Test tour of Australia, barring a century in Perth.
“Having been through a lean patch, so to speak, especially in white-ball cricket – he hasn’t had that kind of run for a long period of time – I feel he’s trying a bit too hard,” Kumble said on ESPNcricinfo Match Day.
“You have that in players who have been there and done that before and everyone sort of looks up to you saying he’s the guy who’s going to take the game away and he’s the one guy who is the important man in the team,” Kumble said.
“When you have that kind of pressure and you have that kind of expectation, you suddenly start putting undue importance to all of that and then try hard to do well. When you do that, you’re not really relaxed.
“The best innings that I am sure he’s played, he’s not even thinking about all of that. The best bowling performances, you’re not even thinking about all of that.
“I think he’s trying a bit too hard. You can see that in the way he is going about his innings. He just needs to not worry about it. Rohit (Sharma) comes in there, has the freedom because there is plenty of batting and all of them are in great form. Similarly for Virat, he just needs to come in and not worry about anything else,” he said.
Kumble stated that Kohli’s last six dismissals have all come to spin, with five of them falling to legspinners. He believes it’s a result of Kohli trying too hard to score runs rather than focusing on rotating the strike.
“To start off against spin, on surfaces like that, you need a lot of confidence. He’s certainly trying too hard to manoeuvre that. He’s a good player of spin when he’s in form, when he’s wanting to just knock singles off and keep rotating the strike. Now he’s trying too hard to score runs rather than just manoeuvre, and that’s been his game plan,” said Kumble.
“All players go through tough moments in their careers, but I get a feeling watching him bat, I think he is putting a lot more pressure on himself. He just needs to relax a little bit and not worry too much about the outcome of what happens on the field rather than just go out there and have the freedom to just go and play naturally, what he does really well,” he added.
Kohli will look to score big against arch-rivals Pakistan in their next fixture on Sunday.
–IANS
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