Leave Virat alone: Rohit dismisses concerns around Kohli's form

In no mood to talk about the prolonged lean patch that Virat Kohli is enduring, India’s cricket team captain Rohit Sharma said on Tuesday that “everything will fall in place” if the chatter around him stops.

Ahead of the T20 series against the West Indies starting Wednesday, media queries were once again focused on Kohli’s batting form and Sharma was not pleased.

“I think it starts from you guys,” Sharma was curt in his first response.

“If you guys (media) can keep quiet for a while, everything will be alright. If talking from your side stops, everything will be taken care of,” Sharma added, in support of his predecessor.

Sharma said that Kohli is not under any pressure and will come good soon.

“He is in a very good space and he has been part of an international team for more than a decade. He has spent so much time in international cricket that he knows how to handle pressure situations,” Sharma said, not amused at repeated queries on Kohli’s form.

Also read: What India’s batting coach thinks about Kohli’s slump in form

“So I think everything starts from you guys. If you guys can keep it quiet for a bit everything will fall in place,” Sharma added.

Kohli has not scored a hundred for more than two years in international cricket. In ODIs, it has been three years since his last century. He has 44 hundreds in the format overall.

But Kohli has scored a lot of half-centuries which is an indication that he is not exactly in wretched form.

Also read: Like Dhoni, you don’t need to be a captain to lead, says Virat Kohli

After the last game in the ODI series, Sharma was more playful when asked if Kohli needs a bit of confidence.

“Virat Kohli lacks confidence? What are you saying?),” Sharma had said in jest, but on Tuesday he was very serious regarding the same question.

(With inputs from Agencies)