Team India has outplayed West Indies to get a 3-0 clean victory in the ODI series and appear to be the favourites even in the five-match T20I series scheduled to start on Friday. The absence of Virat Kohli from the whole West Indies tour continues to be one of the major talking points. BCCI hadn’t given any official justification behind Kohli’s absence but various reports suggested that the former captain was rested. In any case, with the T20 World Cup being less than three months away wasn’t it too big a risk to rest a cricketer who hasn’t been at his best touch for a long while now?
The picture could clear a piece when India announces their squad for three-match ODI series against Zimbabwe in August. Will Kohli return? And on the off chance that he does, should people judge him on the performance against a poor bowling attack? Former New Zealand all-rounder Scott Styris said it’s a ‘lose-lose scenario’ for Kohli. Styris believes regardless of whether Kohli gets 100 in Zimbabwe it won’t change his situation much.
“I think it is a lose-lose for Kohli. I’d love to see him take a complete break from the game for a little while and come back. Ask the question as selectors and coach Rahul Dravid, I think he’s got a big part to plan as to how much preparation time you need to be at a hundred percent when the world cup starts and then work backwards from there and then build that schedule. So yeah, Zimbabwe, I’d forget about it because I don’t necessarily think there’s a lot to gain from him. He might score a cheap hundred, which goes great for the confidence but doesn’t necessarily change too much moving forward because I still believe he’s the key man for India,” Styris said on Sports18’s show ‘Sports Over The Top’.
“Firstly, I loved hearing what a selector goes through in the process that they don’t just simply pick a team or pick the best players. There’s a real methodology around how they go about putting a team together. I can tell you there are plenty of times I wish I could have a conversation with our selectors back here in New Zealand about certain things. So, I loved hearing that, but I’m with you a hundred percent,” he added.
