DOHA: Poor form of ace Indian batsmen Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) has become a topic of discussion as India are set to tour England this summer.
With India leading England 2-1 in the unfinished series that was put off last year due to Covid cases in the Indian camp, the lean patches of these two star batsmen has certainly put the think-tank in a spot of bother.
Kohli has scored 236 runs in 13 matches at an average of 19.67 and a strike rate of 113.46 for Bangalore while Mumbai captain Sharma has managed just 218 runs in 12 games at an average of 18.17 with a strike rate of 125.29.
Former India captain Kohli has scored just one half-century and the current skipper is yet to go past 50 this season.
The final Test match match against England will be held at Edgbaston, Birmingham, from July 1. There’s still some left for these two top batsmen to regain lost touch and India will be looking forward to wrap up the series and improve their rankings in the World Test Championship.
Their off-form in the IPL is definitely not a good sign ahead of the England tour where Team India will also play in a three-match T20 series. Winning this shortest format away should help India before they travel to Australia for the T20 World Cup.
But all remains to be seen how Kohli and Sharma cope up with the pressure.
