IND vs ENG: All eyes on Kohli in second T20

Birmingham: Star India batter Virat Kohli would be desperate to come out of his prolonged lean patch when he makes his T20 return after five months with the second game against England, here on Saturday. Kohli, who last played a T20 international in February, has featured in only two games since India’s underwhelming campaign in […]

Birmingham: Star India batter Virat Kohli would be desperate to come out of his prolonged lean patch when he makes his T20 return after five months with the second game against England, here on Saturday.

Kohli, who last played a T20 international in February, has featured in only two games since India’s underwhelming campaign in the T20 World Cup in October-November when he was captain of the national side. The only T20 cricket he played since then was in the IPL but there too he was far from his best.

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Kohli and other seniors getting frequents break as part of the team’s rest and rotate policy gave opportunity to fringe players like Deepak Hooda, who will be difficult to drop on Saturday after the performances he has come up with. If India decide to retain Hooda, then Kohli could open alongisde skipper Rohit Sharma at the expense of Ishan Kishan, who has also been consistent at the top.

The opening position is something Kohli is quite familiar and his last half-century in T20 Internationals also came at the top. With Kohli expected to take another break for the five T20s against the West Indies, the two games against England assume more importance as far as his future in the T20 set up is concerned.

Kohli has ‘been there and done that’ but with the younger lot playing fearless cricket, he will need to come back to his best.