5 out of form cricketers who got Virat Kohli’s backing
Kohli backs his players to the hilt and hopes for them to deliver.
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India’s captain Virat Kohli (L) and India’s Mohammed Shami (2L) have a laugh duting the drinks break during the 2019 Cricket World Cup warm up match between Bangladesh v India at Sophia Gardens stadium in Cardiff, south Wales, on May 28, 2019. (Photo by Glyn KIRK / AFP) (Photo credit should read GLYN KIRK/AFP/Getty Images)
It’s been over two and a half years since Virat Kohli became the captain of the Indian cricket team across all formats. However, it was in January 2015 that he took over the mantle of the Test team after the sudden retirement of MS Dhoni. India have had some really good success under the Delhi lad across all three formats.
In Test cricket, India have won 26 out of the 46 Test matches that Kohli has led (10 losses and 10 draws). Meanwhile, his record in ODI cricket is even better. He has a win percentage of 74.63 in the 70 games (until World Cup game against Australia) while being at the helm. However, his worst record among the three formats is in T20Is (12 wins, 9 losses).
Over the years, we’ve seen a lot of captains back certain players. Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid did that with a few of them, MS Dhoni did that too and Kohli is following the trend as well. There have been quite a few players whom Kohli has backed in the last few years and has got good results. But there are a few who he’s backed despite them not being in the best of forms.
Here we bring you five out of form cricketers who got Kohli’s backing:
1. KL Rahul (Tests)
KL Rahul made his debut a Test match before Virat Kohli got the Test captaincy. It was the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne that Rahul got his maiden Test cap. He batted at No. 6 in that game which eventually proved to be MS Dhoni’s last in Test cricket.
Despite falling for low scores in both innings (for poor strokes), Rahul was picked for the next Test with Kohli as captain. He was sent out to open the batting with Shikhar Dhawan facing the axe. The Karnataka lad responded well and struck a fine hundred. However, since then, he’s got Kohli’s backing, especially in Test cricket.
Rahul was pretty inconsistent at the start of his career as he was an all or nothing sort of a player. One he got in, he made it count else it was a low score. However, he turned it around by scoring a string of fifties in the home season in 2016-17.
But once India started touring away, his problems started. Despite not getting substantial scores, Rahul was backed through the tours of South Africa, England and Australia. He played 10 Test matches and all he could muster was one hundred and no other scores over 50. He was dropped for an odd game here and there but among the Indian openers, Rahul played the most number of Test matches in this overseas cycle.
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