The Background
Virat Kohli has come under fire for being off the boil in recent times and more so in the T20I series against England where the marquee batter has been woefully short of runs. So much so that, it led to the former cricketing great Kapil Dev to make a negative comment on Virat Kohli.
Kapil Dev feels that Virat Kohli‘s poor form doesn’t allow him to be part of the playing XI. He went on to add that if R Ashwin can be dropped from the Test side then Virat Kohli too can be meted with a similar treatment.
“Yes, now the situation is such that you might be forced to bench Kohli from T20 playing eleven. If world No. 2 bowler Ashwin can be dropped from Test side then (once upon a time) world No. 1 batter can also be dropped,”
“Virat is not batting at a level which we have seen him do over the years. He has made a name because of his performances but if he isn’t performing, then you can’t keep the performing youngsters out of the team. I want competition for places in team in a positive sense that these youngsters should try and outperform Virat,” Kapil Dev added.
Later, in a reply to ICC post on Instagram, featuring Kapil Dev’s statement, Australian batter Usman Khawaja hit out at the comment section and took a hilarious dig at the legendary captain.
In his comment, Usman implied that the Australians will be happy if Virat Kohli is dropped while sharing Kohli’s career record in the shortest format.
“Averages 50 at almost 140. Good call. Australia Agrees.” wrote Khawaja on Instagram.
Usman Khawaja: "Averages 50, at a strike rate of 140". pic.twitter.com/5tUR9GB6qj
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) July 10, 2022
Usman Khawaja has played 9 T20I matches for Australia and has scored 241 runs so far with a highest score of 58 not out, which happens to be the lone T20I half-century against his name.
In one day Internationals, he has played 40 matches and has scored 1554 runs with a strike rate of 84.09 and his highest score being 104 not out. The Queenslander recently got a contract to play for his home franchise the Brisbane Heat and this move meant he had to exit from his former club Sydney Thunder.
