Ex-India Player's Desperate Plea To Virat Kohli After Lord's: 'Please Come Back'
Former India all-rounder Madan Lal has urged Virat Kohli to reverse his retirement in light of the men's Test team's struggles in England. In a recent interview, he said Kohli had an 'unmatched passion' for Indian cricket, which the team could use if not in the ongoing Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy, then the next series.
Kohli retired from Tests in May this year. Given Rohit Sharma had also retired only a few days previously and the likes of Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane had been phased out, it left India to take quite a young team to England for the five Tests, led by the fifth-youngest captain in the country's history, Shubman Gill.
The team has competed well in the three Tests so far, winning the second one at Edgbaston and losing quite narrowly at Lord's. But a lack of experience in key stages has been touted as a major concern.
'Virat Kohli's passion for Indian cricket was unmatched. It's my wish that he should come back to Test cricket after retirement. There's nothing wrong with returning. If not in this series, he should make a comeback in the next," Madan Lal was quoted as saying by Hindustan Times. 'From my point of view, he should reverse his retirement. Because he can easily play for 1-2 years. It's about you passing your experience to the youngsters. You just left it. It's not too late. Please come back."
Missing Kohli or even Rohit, who had a relatively short stint, has been more about just his experience. The team has lacked tactically — which the coaching department needs to take the blame for, too — and has adopted a batting-depth-friendly strategy, which is opposite to what both eras were about.
On flatter tracks than what Kohli's teams got in England, Gill has surpassed him as a batter at number four. He has also tried to replicate him with a natural agression and flamboyance on the field, though, it has fallen short in comparison to the charismatic leadership of the much more experienced Ben Stokes.
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