Virat Kohli should consider a break from cricket: Brett Lee

Virat Kohli's slump in form has continued to be a bone of contention for former players and critics since 2020. The lack of runs from the batting maestro is worrying for the Indian team, with the ICC T20 World Cup and Asia Cup lined up this year. Former Australian great Brett Lee has suggested that the former Indian captain take time off from the game to regain form.

Speaking to PTI, Lee said, "Do I say it is a concern? I do. Of course, I would like him (Kohli) to be scoring more runs. The hardest thing is when Virat Kohli doesn't score runs. Generally, the team doesn't do well. When we see Kohli had that purple patch, when he got 800-900 runs in that season (IPL 2016), his team (Royal Challengers Bangalore) fared pretty well. So we want more from Kohli."

"A strong Kohli is a strong team. Unfortunately, he missed out in the semis; he could not get his team to cross the line of his own bat, getting less than 10 runs. Maybe (it is) a chance for Kohli to go back and try work on a few things and maybe just have a rest from cricket. Just get away and freshen up the mind," Lee opined.

This season, Kohli's inability to score big runs did hamper Royal Challenger Bangalore (RCB), where the right-hander managed just 341 runs at 22.73 with two fifties.

It might be noted that the former RCB skipper hasn't hit an international hundred since 2019, with his last coming against Bangladesh in Day-Night Test.

The Australian speedster was also impressed by the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) bowling duo of Avesh Khan and Mohsin Khan, stating that their raw pace can work well in conditions in Australia during T20 WC.

"The two Khan boys (Mohsin and Avesh) have got real talent. The one thing that Indian cricket is producing is a nice catalogue of fast bowlers. I like that. They have good spin options, but certainly, if you are looking forward to the T20 World Cup in Australia, you want guys that can bowl fast on the fast, bouncy wickets," the two-time World Cup winner explained.