India vs West Indies: Don't think Virat Kohli is going through a lean patch, says batting coach Vikram Rathour
India Today
India batting coach Vikram Rathour expressed confidence that senior batter Virat Kohli would be back with runs in the upcoming T20I series against West Indies.
India batting coach Vikram Rathour on Monday said that Virat Kohli's prolonged lean patch is not a concern for the Rohit Sharma-led team heading into the upcoming T20I series against West Indies in Kolkata.
The 33-year-old, whose tenure as India captain across formats came to an end last month, had a disappointing run in the recently-concluded three-match ODI series with a total score of 26 runs at an average of 8.6 with a best of 18.
Rathour said it does not mean lack of form as Kohli has been doing well in the nets.
"I don't think he's going through a lean phase. I understand he had a poor series against the West Indies (in ODIs) but no conversation as such," Rathour said in a media interaction in the build-up to the three-match T20I series beginning at the Eden Gardens on Wednesday.
In ODIs, Kohli last scored a century against the West Indies in August 2019, in Port of Spain and since then, he has had 10 50-plus scores but failed to convert them into a ton.
In the last 12 months, he has been part of nine ODIs and scored a total of 271 runs in them.
"He's batting really well in the nets and the kind of preparation he's putting in. We are waiting for... I'm certain that in one of these innings he will be back among runs," the batting coach said, strongly backing the former skipper.
