5 former cricketers who questioned Virat Kohli's place in Indian team during his lean patch

Virat Kohli struggled for big runs in 2020-21 that led to the debate of whether he deserves to be in the Indian squad. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) faced strong criticism from the Indian fans for giving the star batter unnecessary breaks while also for including him in the team despite his poor form. 

The former Indian captain missed a long list of international games in the last year and a half, which drew questions about whether he was truly rested or dropped for poor form? However, defying all the odds and removing all the doubts, Kohli roared back to form in style in the Asia Cup last year, when he scored his maiden T20I century, playing against Afghanistan. He finished the tournament as the second-highest run-getter, with 276 runs at a brilliant average of 92 and strike rate of 147.59.

He followed that performance with a brilliant run in the T20 World Cup 2022 in Australia, ending as the tournament's highest run-getter with 296 runs at a staggering average of 98.67 and a strike rate of 136.41 in six innings, including four half-centuries. Kohli then announced his comeback in the ODIs as he smacked a century against Bangladesh in the recent series to win India the match. The batting maestro did not look back and started 2023 with a bang too, as he scored two centuries in the three-match series against Sri Lanka at home to win the Player of the Series award in team's 3-0 win. 

With India's best batter back in form in the ODIs, the team management must be breathing easy with the 50-over World Cup scheduled in India later this year. Meanwhile, during his lean form, there were plenty of notable voices that called for his exclusion.

Here are five instances when former cricketers called for Virat Kohli’s exclusion:

1. Kapil Dev

Former World Cup-winning captain Kapil Dev had questioned Kohli’s place in the current T20I setup. He had asked the Indian management to play in-form players and no rely on reputations alone. He had also given the example of veteran spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, who was not part of India’s rescheduled fifth Test match against England in Edgbaston.

“Play in-form players when you have loads of options. You can’t just go by reputation, but you have to look for the current form. You can be an established player but that doesn’t mean that you will be given chances even if you fail five games in a row. If world No. 2 Test bowler Ashwin can be dropped from Test side then your No. 1 batter can also be dropped,” Kapil Dev said.

Kapil’s remarks had come after Kohli’s poor show in the T20I series against England in July 2022. He missed the first match but scored only 12 runs in two matches after a disappointing outing in the Test match.