'Just get away and freshen up the mind' - Brett Lee has a suggestion for Virat Kohli

Virat Kohli’s abject failure with the bat in IPL 2022 has been doing the rounds since the season took off back in March. Barring his half-century against Gujarat Titans in the final group stage game, the former Indian skipper has failed to make an impact this term. Former Australian speedster Brett Lee has joined a long list of ex-cricketers by advising Kohli to take time off the game.

Kohli endured a tough time in IPL 2022, scoring just 341 runs at a lowly average of 22.73. This is only the second time in eight years when the right-handed batter has failed to breach the 400-run mark in an IPL season. The fact that Kohli was not able to contribute in important games for RCB will concern the Indian fans as they want Kohli back in full flow before the T20 World Cup, later this year. Lee pointed out the importance of runs from Virat’s bat as they make the difference for his sides far often than not.

“The hardest thing is when Virat Kohli doesn’t score runs, generally the team doesn’t do well. When we see Kohli had that purple patch, when he got 800-900 runs in that season (IPL 2016) his team (Royal Challengers Bangalore) fared pretty well. We want more from Kohli,” Lee said as quoted by HT.

“Maybe (it is) a chance for Kohli to go back and try work on a few things and maybe just have a rest from cricket. Just get away and just freshen up the mind,” added Lee.

Brett Lee praises young Indian pace contingent’s performance in IPL

The former Australian speedster, who used to terrorize batters with his sheer pace and accuracy, has showered praises on the current generation of Indian fast bowlers. He believes that they will be an important factor in the upcoming T20 World Cup in Australia.

“The two Khan boys (Mohsin and Avesh) have got real talent. The one thing that Indian cricket is producing is a nice catalog of fast bowlers. I like that. They have got good spin options as well but certainly, if you are looking forward to the T20 World Cup in Australia, you want guys that can bowl fast on the fast bouncy wickets,” opined Lee.

Lee further revealed that he wants Umran Malik to represent India in red-ball cricket as the tearaway pacer has been sensational in IPL 2022, bagging 22 wickets and rattling batters with his explosive pace.

“Look he has been fantastic, what Umran Malik delivers is pure pace. I wish him well and I am hoping that he gets the opportunity to play the longer format of the game as well,” the two-time World Cup winner said.