India captain Rohit Sharma defended Virat Kohli once again after the batter was dismissed for 16 in the second ODI against England.
"Kyun ho rahi hain, yaar. Matlab mujhe samajh mein nahi aata, bhai. (Why is there so much of discussion... I can't understand this)," Rohit said.
"He has played so many matches, over such a long period of time. He is such a great batter, so he does not need reassurance, he added.
"As I have said previously, the form can go up and down, it's part and parcel for every cricketer's career. Even the greatest cricketer would have his share of ups and downs.
Kohli is going through a rough patch in his career. He is struggling to score runs. Making a comeback after sitting out the first ODI because of a groin injury, Kohli was sent back to the hut after striking three boundaries at Lord's in the 2nd ODI.
In the preceding T20I series Kohli had scores of 1 and 11, and was also dismissed cheaply in the fifth Test against England, forcing legends such as Kapil Dev to question his inclusion in the playing XI.
Just before the Indian team arrived at Lord's for the second match, the BCCI had announced the squad for the upcoming T20I series in the West Indies, which did not include Kohli. It is said that he had asked for rest.
If Rohit's support was not enough, his English counterpart Jos Buttler too backed Kohli.
"I suppose in a little way it's quite refreshing for the rest of us that he (Kohli) is human and he can have a couple of low scores as well, but look he has been one of the best players, if not the best player in ODI cricket in the world," the English skipper said.
"So he's been a fantastic player for so many years and all batters, it just proves, go through runs of the form where they don't perform as well as they can do sometimes, but certainly as an opposition captain, you know a player of that class is always due, so you're hoping that it doesn't come against us," said Buttler.
(Inputs from PTI)
