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'A great player like him shouldn't take so much time to get back in form. He has to fight with himself and get things in order.'
The legendary Kapil Dev wondered if Virat Kohli was indeed rested or ignored for the upcoming five T20Is against the West Indies, hinting that the word "dropped" may have been avoided as he "is not an ordinary" cricketer.
Kohli's lean run is now into its third year, the modern-day great last scoring an international century in 2019, something that recently prompted Dev to say that the team management can't go by reputation only.
The former India skipper will not feature in the five-match T20I series against the West Indies, to be played in the Caribbean and the United States from July 29.
"It's not like India haven't played without Virat in the last five to six years, but I want such a player to be back in form. He might have been dropped or rested but there's still a lot of cricket left in him," Dev told ABP News.
India's first World Cup winning-captain added, "Play Ranji Trophy or score runs anywhere. His confidence needs to be back. This is the difference between a great and a good player.
"A great player like him shouldn't take so much time to get back in form. He has to fight with himself and get things in order."
He also suggested that Kohli should get more practice and play matches to get back to his "old self" when he dominated world cricket.
"The most important thing is how a player like Kohli can return to form. He's not an ordinary cricketer. He should get more practice, play more matches to get back to his old self. I don't think there's a bigger player than Kohli in T20s right now but when you are not doing well, the selectors can take their call.
"My thinking is that if anybody isn't doing well then he can be rested or dropped," said Dev.
"I can't say a player like Virat Kohli should be dropped. He's a big player. If you say he has been rested as mark of respect then there's no harm in that," added Dev.
Last week, Dev said if a bowler with the pedigree of Ravichandran Ashwin could be dropped from the Test team then so can Kohli.
The BCCI has officially not stated a reason for his exclusion from West Indies T20Is although it's widely speculated that the star batter along with Jasprit Bumrah have been rested.