It is about time Virat Kohli delivers big: Salman Butt

Amidst all the uncertainty around Indian cricket at the moment, an all-important series against South Africa is all set to take place. However, with the new red-ball vice-captain Rohit Sharma being ruled out of the Test series due to a hamstring injury, the Kohli-led side has already received a major setback, even before the start of the series.

An important point to be noted is the fact that the opener has been one of India’s best batters in the last few Tests. Thus, the onus is now on the captain to come good against the Proteas. Former Pakistan cricketer Salman Butt also feels that it is about time that the 33-year-old starts delivering.

While speaking on his YouTube channel, he felt that with the absence of Sharma, it becomes important for India’s captain in the longest format of the game to score big runs. Despite not being in the best form of late, the former Pakistan captain reckons that Kohli will have to come up with exceptional batting performances this time around.

“Virat Kohli’s role as captain and as a player has become all the more important in the absence of the experienced Rohit Sharma. Looking at his current form, it’s about time he delivers big,” said Salman Butt.

Both Kohli and BCCI have handled their issues in the right way – Salman Butt

In the meanwhile, he also spoke about the captaincy drama, with respect to Virat Kohli and the BCCI. Kohli was replaced by Rohit Sharma as India’s ODI captain earlier this month. “Both Kohli and BCCI have handled their issues in the right way. If he plays well and wins the series then a lot of things could be swept under the carpet. That’s how it works,” he said. Thus, he felt that a series win would ensure that the entire fiasco gets forgotten.

However, in the last 29 years, India are yet to win a Test series in the rainbow nation. As a matter of fact, the last time they toured South Africa in 2017-2018, they ended up losing the Test series by a 2-1 margin. Thus, as the Proteas are a force to reckon with at home, beating the hosts isn’t going to be that easy.