Former Indian captain Virat Kohli's childhood coach Rajkumar Sharma has hit back at legendary all-rounder Kapil Dev for the recent statement on the 33-year-old batsman's place in the T20I team.
Kohli has been in poor form in the shortest format of the game this year. The iconic Indian cricketer could manage only two half-centuries in 16 outings during the recent season of the Indian Premier League (IPL).
He endured another poor outing in the second T20I against England, scoring just one run. Despite his ongoing lean patch, the Delhi batter is among India's most prolific run-scorers in the format.
Before the ongoing Edgbaston T20I, Kohli has scored 663 runs in his last 19 innings at an average of 47.35 and a strike-rate of 136.13 with six 50+ scores.
But, with the likes of Deepak Hooda and Surya Kumar Yadav doing well, Dev recently said on ABP News that if Ravichandran Ashwin could be dropped from the Test team, then so can Kohli from T20Is.
"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 the Test side then the 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," said Dev.
Reacting to the World Cup-winning Indian captain's statement, Kohli's childhood coach, Rajkumar Sharma, expressed that he does not support the legendary all-rounder's views.
He further asked why Kohli is being judged by every innings, given the fact that he has done brilliantly well in the format for a decade.
Sharma signed off by stating that the BCCI will not jump to the decision of benching Kohli for the T20 World Cup.
"I do not support the statements made by Kapil Dev on Virat Kohli. Nothing big happened with Virat that such kind of statement has been issued. Why is there so much hurry with Virat, he has done so well for the country. Making 70 international centuries is not a small thing. I do not think the board will make a decision to have him sit on the bench," he told ANI.
The under-fire batter will look to silence his critics when he takes guard in the final T20I in Nottingham on July 10.