The Indian cricket team, especially the senior cricketers – Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli are getting slammed heavily for the team’s poor performance in the recently concluded Border-Gavaskar Trophy which India lost by 1-3. While some fans and former cricketers are demanding that both these senior cricketers should be dropped from the team and youngsters should get a chance to show their talent, there are few former cricketers including Yuvraj Singh and Navjot Singh Sidhu who have come out in support of these two senior batters and asked fans to show some respect to their heroes.
Navjot Singh Sidhu emphasized that the senior players deserve greater respect, even when facing a slump in form. He cited the examples of Mark Taylor, Mohammed Azharuddin and Sourav Ganguly who were all given opportunities to make comebacks during difficult phases in their careers.
During an interview, Navjot Singh Sidhu said, “If someone is in bad form for 2 months, you can’t delete them. I know you can’t rest on your laurels, you have to refresh them, but you have to give allowance. Mark Taylor failed for 1.5 years, Azharuddin failed, Ganguly said that I can fail in 8 innings, but it just takes one to come back.”
According to Sidhu, Kohli and Rohit’s contributions to Indian cricket should not be overlooked, especially considering their pivotal roles in helping India secure the 2024 T20 World Cup victory.
Sidhu said, “They won you a World Cup 6 months ago, and now, you have ODI cricket throughout. You just can’t target the two and ignore others. Who showed consistency with the red ball? Blaming is the easiest thing, throwing stones is easy but there are a few who build homes with stones thrown at them, and these two are prime examples.”
He added, “It’s not the first time when Kohli faced criticism, people even drag his wife. It’s wrong, we must respect our heroes. Keep patience. Everyone goes through a rough period.”
While talking about Rohit and Virat’s future in test cricket, Sidhu said, “He (Kohli) goes home, he sees his videos, he will realize his bat is going far away from his body. He will find a solution. Rohit needs to work on his fitness, because he is a brilliant player.”
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During the Test series, Virat Kohli managed to score only 190 runs across five matches, which included a century in the first Test. Rohit Sharma, on the other hand, struggled even more, accumulating just 31 runs in five innings before opting out of the final Test. Despite these underwhelming performances, Sidhu believes the duo’s experience and past successes warrant continued faith and respect.
Do you agree with Navjot Singh Sidhu?
