Robin Uthappa opens up on Virat Kohli’s form, says he needs to free himself mentally

Former Indian batter Robin Uthappa believes Virat Kohli should look to free himself mentally and the runs will come for him. Kohli struggled to get going against Bangladesh in the Champions Trophy game in Dubai on Thursday and was dismissed after scoring only 22 runs off 38 balls.

The right-hander was caught at point after he tried to play a cut shot against Rishad Hossain but could not control it. Uthappa observed that Kohli is trying hard to middle the ball however he feels he should look to score runs with intent, which he has done over the years.

The former flamboyant batter feels it is a matter of one knock before Kohli gets his confidence back at the top level.

Speaking on Star Sports, Robin Uthappa said, “Virat, the great batter that he is, will have to address himself because, I think in a sense he’s in his head a little bit. It feels like that from the outside. It feels like he’s looking to middle the ball versus when he actually is batting well, he’s looking to get runs. He’s not worried about middling the ball because the intent itself is different.”

“And I think he’s trying to break free from that space of trying to middle the ball versus scoring runs and he’s finding himself caught in between is what I’m feeling from the outside. I think it’s a matter of time, the minute he frees his head up and just goes out there and expresses himself, the runs will flow.”

Uthappa said Kohli needs to make some technical in his batting to get back to his previous best.

“I do think there’s a slight technical adjustment that he needs to make. Generally, his bat comes from the 2nd slip or 3rd slip. When he scored most of his runs, his bat generally comes from the 2nd or 3rd slip. Right now you see it’s coming from right at the wicketkeeper or 1st slip. And from there, every time he looks to play the cover driver or on the offside, he’s going to not come with a full face of his bat. He’s gonna come with maybe 50-60% of his bat, and that also will make that cover driver his favorite shot, a very dangerous shot to play,” said Uthappa.

India will next take on arch-rivals Pakistan at Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai on Sunday.