Former captain urges selectors to “play in-form players” and “not just go by reputation”

Kapil Dev: Play in-form players, don’t go by reputation only, and prepare to make tough calls even if it happens to be someone of the stature of Virat Kohli. This is essentially Kapil Dev’s message to India’s selectors as they build toward this year’s T20 World Cup in Australia.

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Kapil told ABP News-

“Play in-form players when you have loads of options,”. “You can’t just go by reputation, but you have to look for the current form. You can be an established player but that doesn’t mean that you will be given chances even if you fail five games in a row.”

Can Kohli fit into India’s current plans-

Kapil was asked specifically if Kohli can fit into India’s current plans given his own lean run and how well Suryakumar Yadav and Deepak Hooda have performed in his absence.

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He managed just two half-centuries-

Kohli is coming off IPL where he managed just two half-centuries for Royal Challengers Bangalore. In all T20s in 2022, he has so far struck at 115 in the middle overs. Whereas Suryakumar, Hooda, Shreyas Iyer, and Rishabh Pant have all scored at a faster clip in this period.

“Yes, there will be a headache, but he will have to perform better,” Kapil said. “If world No. 2 Test bowler Ashwin can be dropped from Test side then your No. 1 batter can also be dropped.

Virat Kohli isn’t playing like the Kohli we know-

“I hope Kohli scores runs. And if there’s a [selection] challenge after that, it’s a big one. At the moment, Virat Kohli isn’t playing like the Kohli we know. The one that has made him a legend through his performances.

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You can’t continue to keep these boys [youngsters] out-

“If he isn’t performing, you can’t continue to keep these boys [youngsters] out. I hope there’s a healthy fight for selection, the youngsters should look to outperform Kohli. But Kohli needs to think, ‘yes at one point I was a big player, but I need to play like that No. 1 player again’. That’s a problem for the team, it’s not a bad problem.”