Nottingham, July 11 With Virat Kohli making scores of one and 11 in the second and third T20I respectively against England, India skipper Rohit Sharma backed the talismanic batter to come out of his prolonged lean patch, saying that he too had gone through the same phase and it doesn’t make quality of a player bad.
“If you are talking about form, it goes up and down for everyone. The quality of the player doesn’t go bad. We should always keep in mind when such comments are passed around that the quality of a player is never bad. We’re backing that quality, as a player has that and we back it. It’s happened with me; it’s happened with XYZ. There’s nothing new,” said Rohit in the post-match press conference.
Rohit then further questioned the relentless criticism coming for Kohli from some experts who have made comments about him in the media, terming them as people sitting from the outside who aren’t aware of inner workings of the Indian team.
“It’s not difficult at all for us because we don’t listen to outside noise. I don’t know who these experts are and why they’re called experts. I don’t understand that. See, they are seeing from outside; they don’t know what’s happening inside (the team). We have a thought process, we make the team, debate, discuss and think a lot about it.
“The players (picked) are backed, they are given opportunities. People on the outside don’t know about all this. So, it’s more important about what’s happening within our team, that’s important for me rather than what’s happening outside.
“When a player has done well so consistently, then one or two bad series or has one or two bad years, it (his contributions) shouldn’t be overlooked. It might take time for some to understand for people from outside. But for us, inside and running the team, we know the importance. I will request those on the outside that yes you have all the right to talk about it, but for us, it doesn’t matter a lot.”
After winning the T20I series 2-1, India will begin the three-match ODI series against England, with the first game to be played at The Oval on Tuesday.