Steve Waugh backs Virat Kohli to turn his form, says never write off great players

Former Australian captain Steve Waugh has put his weight behind Virat Kohli to turn his form. Kohli hasn’t been at his best in the recent past and he would want to turn the tables in the ongoing Champions Trophy.

The talisman scored 190 runs in five Test matches against Australia at an average of 23.75. Furthermore, the right-hander was dismissed after scoring six runs in the Ranji Trophy clash against the Railways.

Subsequently, Kohli could only manage five runs in the second ODI against England while he scored a decent knock of 52 runs in the third game at Ahmedabad

But once again Kohli didn’t bat at his best as he trudged to 22 off 38 balls in team’s opening clash of the Champions Trophy against Bangladesh at Dubai before he was dismissed by Rishad Hossain. However, Kohli has a great record in ODI format and has all the experience under his belt to turn his form around.

Steve Waugh told TOI, “Great players tend to find a way and rectify things quickly. But I guess it just proved he’s human like the rest of us. Things in life change too. He’s got children. Obviously other things are very important in his life, besides cricket. He just needs that little bit of spark to get him back. I never write off great players.”

“We set such high standards, everyone is expecting him to come out and get a hundred every game, which is not possible. He’s an amazing player. He was disappointed with his returns, and he kept getting out the same way (in Australia), which was a little bit surprising for such a great player.”

The 1999 ODI World Cup-winning captain said Kohli is thinking far too ahead and it is leading to his downfall.

“The tendency to sort of just hang the bat outside off-stump, that’s something he could rectify quickly. I think that comes down to concentration and focus. Maybe that’s the area that is down now. Maybe he thinks too far ahead or is thinking about the consequences rather than playing it one ball at a time,” Waugh said.

Virat Kohli needs 15 runs to complete 14000 runs in ODIs.