India vs West Indies: Despite not being captain, Virat Kohli crucial to India in T20Is, says Ajit Agarkar
India Today
India vs West Indies: Former pacer Ajit Agarkar said the team management should give Virat Kohli clarity about his role as a batter in the T20I side. India will play 3 T20Is against the West Indies from February 16.
Former India fast bowler Ajit Agarkar said Virat Kohli will have a major role to play for India in T20Is despite not being the captain of the team anymore. Kohli will play T20Is under captain Rohit Sharma for the first time when India take on West Indies in a 3-match series from Wednesday at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
Agarkar said it's up to the team management to give Kohli clarity on whether the star batter should go after the bowlers aggressively or play the anchor's role that he was doing when he led the team until last year.
Kohli brought an end to his 4-year stint as India's T20I captain after the T20 World Cup last year. While he announced ahead of the World Cup that he would step down to focus on leading the sides in Tests and ODIs, the Delhi star was sacked as ODI captain before he stepped down as Test captain as well earlier this year.
"I think one of the top things about Virat Kohli, when he was captain was, that he didn't let his form falter. His runs didn't dry up with the extra pressure that can happen sometimes - that didn't happen with him which was his greatness as a captain as well," Agarkar told Star Sports show Game Plan.
"So, now that the captaincy pressure is off there might still be a role for him whether that's to play a bit more aggressively or still bat the whole innings and the other guys bat around him and bat more aggressively.
"I think that's for the team management to decide, but Virat Kohli's runs are so crucial for India - every time he scores runs India invariably end up winning. So, his form is crucial to India's success as well," the former pacer added.
Kohli has been criticised in the recent past for taking a lot of time to get going in the shortest format of the game but his number game is quite strong. In 2021, Kohli played 10 T20is, amassing 290 runs with 4 fifties at an average of over 74.
