The Test career of Virat Kohli, who has retired from T20 International cricket, currently seems to be in trouble. Despite scoring a century in the first Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, he averaged less than 24 in the entire series. Apart from this, his performance in the ODI series against Sri Lanka in August 2024 was also not up to expectations. For this reason, Kohli is facing criticism before the ICC Champions Trophy to be held in 2025.
Ian Chappell’s advice
Former Australia captain Ian Chappell has advised Kohli that he should avoid unnecessary controversies and focus on scoring runs continuously. Chappell said in his column for ESPNcricinfo, “Kohli’s experience in the UK will be very important. However, along with improving his consistency, he will also have to provide guidance to the young players.”
Sam Kontas controversy
The incident of hitting shoulders with Sam Constas in the Melbourne Test during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy made a lot of headlines. For this absurd act, ICC had fined Kohli 20% of his match fee. Commenting on the incident, Ian Chappell said, “Kohli should avoid this kind of behaviour. What happened to Constas in the MCG Test was not right for a senior player.”
future challenge
Chappell believes that if Kohli retires from Test cricket, it will be a big blow for the Indian team. He wrote, “If both Kohli and Rohit Sharma leave together, there will be a big void in the team’s line-up.” Chappell made it clear that he wants Virat Kohli to play in the Test series on England tour and prove his usefulness.
