Too premature – Ajit Agarkar on talks of replacing Virat Kohli from the Indian team

Former Indian fast bowler Ajit Agarkar believes talks regarding replacing Virat Kohli from the Indian team are too immature. As Kohli isn’t in the best of forms in the last couple of years and a lot of cricket experts, including former Indian captain Kapil Dev, reckons the former skipper should be dropped from the T20I squad to give opportunities to more deserving players.

Meanwhile, it is well known that Kohli is going to play a key role in the ODI World Cup, which will take place in India. Kohli has an immaculate record in the 50-overs version of the game and Agarkar believes it will be imperative for India that their star batter returns to his best.

Former Mumbai pacer feels India and Kohli have ample time in their hand as the ODI World Cup is 15 months away.

On the show ‘The Run Up’ on FanCode, Ajit Agarkar said: “At the moment, he (Kohli) is going through a lean patch, which is a fact of life. Every great player or the other has gone through it. Hopefully, for India’s sake, he comes out of it sooner or later, because it is the ODI World Cup next year. He has a bit of time before the World Cup.”

“But you don’t want a great player like Virat to stay out of form for too long. There is a bit of worry but there is a lot of talk about that Virat Kohli should be replaced, which is too premature.”

On the other hand, former Indian spinner Murali Kartik showered praise on Virat Kohli. The ex-Indian orthodox spinner added that Kohli is a champion player and he knows how to get runs.

“If you look at any sport, the percentage of success is less than the percentage of failure. He has 43 hundred in ODIs and is in search of his 71st (international) hundred. He knows how to get runs. He is a champion player.”

Kohli has been rested for the ongoing West Indies tour. The right-hander didn’t have a great run against England and would be determined to make a solid comeback.