Don’t write off Virat Kohli, he is going to come back as a much better player – Brian Lara

Former West Indies legendary batter Brian Lara believes it will be a mistake to write off Virat Kohli and he is going to come back as a much better player. Kohli hasn’t been in the best of forms in the recent past and he hasn’t been able to deliver the goods for the team.

The talisman had a poor run in the IPL while playing for Royal Challengers Bangalore and then he could not get going on the England tour. Kohli was rested for the series against South Africa, Ireland, and West Indies and he is once again rested for the Zimbabwe ODIs.

The right-hander will now return to action in the Asia Cup and he would want to hit the ground running. Kohli has had enough rest in the recent past and he is expected to return in a fresh mental state.

In fact, Kohli has been averaging 24.83 and scoring at a strike rate of 113.74 in the last year in T20I cricket, which is well below his own lofty standards. However, one feels Kohli is one knock away from hitting the purple patch. It is worth mentioning that Kohli hasn’t had the rub of the green on his side in the last few months.

“I respect Virat Kohli as a player, and he is going to come out of it as a much better player,” the 53-year-old said.

“He will be learning a lot of things at this point of time. You cannot write him off,” warns the former West Indian great in an exclusive interview with Vimal Kumar for News18.

On the other hand, Brian Lara also showered praise on Rohit Sharma for his consistency. Rohit recently leapfrogged Shahid Afridi in the list of most sixes in International cricket. The Indian skipper now has 477 sixes to his name in 410 international matches — the second highest by any batter in the world. Chris Gayle tops the list with 553 sixes.

“He is an unbelievable player. I think lots of Indian years players are very aggressive and Rohit is an amazing player,” Lara said.

Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli have been rested for the upcoming ODI series against Zimbabwe and Shikhar Dhawan is going to lead the team. The duo will return to action in the Asia Cup.