"Too premature" - Ajit Agarkar on talks of dropping Virat Kohli from the Indian team

Former Indian cricketer Ajit Agarkar feels it is perhaps too early to talk about star batter Virat Kohli's future with the Indian team. The 33-year-old has been one of the best batters of the past decade across formats but has struggled of late to score big.

Thankfully, according to Agarkar, there are almost fifteen months left until the 2023 ODI World Cup in India, where Kohli will be a crucial player for the hosts. The 44-year-old feels Kohli still has ample time to get back into form.

Speaking on the show 'The Run Up' on FanCode, here's what Ajit Agarkar had to say about Virat Kohli:

"At the moment, he (Kohli) is going through a lean patch, which is a fact of life. Every great player or the other has gone through it. Hopefully, for India's sake, he comes out of it sooner or later, because it is the ODI World Cup next year. He has a bit of time before the World Cup."

"But you don't want a great player like Virat to stay out of form for too long. There is a bit of worry but there is a lot of talk about that Virat Kohli should be replaced, which is too premature."

Virat Kohli knows how to get runs, is a champion player: Murali Kartik

Former Indian left-arm spinner Murali Kartik was also present on the panel on FanCode and gave his opinion on Kohli's run-drought. Kartik feels it is almost impossible for a player who has scored 70 international hundreds, to not know how to score runs. He opined:

"If you look at any sport, the percentage of success is less than the percentage of failure. He has 43 hundred in ODIs and is in search of his 71st (international) hundred. He knows how to get runs. He is a champion player."

Kohli is currently rested from India's tour of the West Indies. The Men in Blue will hope that he returns rejuvenated before the Asia Cup in August.