"Don't Even Understand Why They Are Called Experts": Rohit Sharma On "Outside Noise" Regarding Virat Kohli's Form
NDTV
Virat Kohli registered scores of 1 and 11 in the two T20Is against England and now skipper Rohit Sharma has said that the side always backs quality
Virat Kohli's poor run of form continued in the T20I series against England as he registered scores of 1 and 11 in the second and third T20Is respectively. In both the games, Kohli tried to be aggressive and take on the bowling from the get-go, but he was unable to stay at the crease for long. After the third T20I which India lost by 17 runs, skipper Rohit Sharma spoke to reporters during a press conference and he spoke about Kohli's form as well.
"It is not difficult for us as we do not listen to the outside noise. I don't know who the experts are. I don't even understand why they are called experts. They are watching it from the outside, they don't know what is going on inside. We are building a team, we have a certain thought process. A lot of deliberation goes behind it. There is a lot of thinking behind it. Boys are backed. Boys are given chances. People outside don't know all these things. It is not important what is going on outside," said Rohit.
"If you talk of form, it goes up and down for everyone. The quality of a player never goes down and we should remember that. When you make certain comments, you should always remember that the quality of a player does not go down. We back that quality. It has happened with me, it has happened with XYZ, it has happened with everyone, it is nothing new. When some player has done so well consistently for so long, that can't be written off in one or two series or one or two years. It takes people time to understand it completely, but those who are running the team know the importance of that quality," he added.
When asked about the aggressive approach being taken by Virat Kohli, Rohit said: "It's a bit of both (when asked if Kohli's approach is a team instruction or a personal choice). We, as a team, want to play in a certain way, and every player needs to buy into that thought process. Otherwise, you know, it's not going to happen for you. And all the players, all the batters, who are part of this squad, are willing to take that extra risk and go and see what extra they can do with the bat."
"It's important to find out within yourself, you know, to try and do different kinds of things. Unless you try it, you will never be able to find out. So I think it is something that we have been trying to do for a while now. Some days it might come off, some days it might not. But we don't want to be afraid of going in and taking that extra risk. That's how we're going to learn as a team and that's how we will move forward as a team. So it's in everyone's thought process, everyone is quite comfortable with that idea. So yeah, that's the kind of direction the team is going to move in."