Ex-IND player attacks timing of Rohit's 'keep it quiet' Kohli remark: 'Used to happen during Kapil vs Gavaskar'

  • Feb. 16, 2022, 11:20 a.m.

Atul Wassan, former India cricketer, on Tuesday lashed out at India's white-ball captain, Rohit Sharma, for the timing of his remark on Virat Kohli during the pre-series press conference in Kolkata for the T20I contest against West Indies. Wassan felt that Rohit's "keep it quiet" comment to a journalist on Kohli's diminishing returns with the bat should have come earlier amid the rumours of a rift between the two cricketing stalwarts of Indian cricket.

Speaking to ANI, Wassan did admit that the rumours were "unfounded", but felt that Rohit should have addressed the issue much earlier.

"I think this should have come sooner because the rumours emanating from the Indian dressing room and camp that there is a rift between Rohit and Virat, which is unfounded, and I think every player has got some issues and it doesn't mean that they try to perform and under-perform when somebody else is the captain. I think this was historically done when Bishan Singh Bedi versus Sunil Gavaskar and Kapil Dev versus Sunil Gavaskar used to happen. These guys are professionals these days, "he said. 

The 53-year old also admitted that while the chatter around Kohli's form was natural, he backed Rohit for his comment. 

"They play with each other, against each other, and they play around. The IPL is a perfect example. So, I think they travel for many months of the year together. So, I think they live like families. So, some kinds of proximity breed contempt, and that is pretty true. Something might happen, but that should not be blown out of proportion to the point that it hampers the team's morale. Rohit has done the right thing by coming out in the open and I agree that there is too much chatter about Virat and it is natural, "he said.

Kohli has failed to score a three-figure mark in international cricket since November 2019 and in the recent ODI series against West Indies, the former India captain registered a decade low with his tally of just 26 runs in three innings, his second-lowest in a bilateral ODI series comprising a minimum of three games.

Wassan also backed Kohli to bounce back from his low, just like Kapil Dev came back from his eyesight issue or Sachin Tendulkar overcame the tennis elbow injury. 

If you know the kind of brilliant player he has been and the kind of shots he has invented, especially the one from outside the off stump into the mid-wicket area for the fast bowlers, suddenly your eyes drop and you find the shots you are missing. If he is a great player like Tendulkar, then when he had a tennis elbow, he corrected himself and he started the bottom hand play. So, he changed his technique to survive another few years and I am sure Virat will do that too."

Author : Rajdhani Delhi Representative

Rajdhani delhi representative

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