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Navjot Singh Sidhu came out in support of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, saying the senior batters need to be given more ‘respect’.
India’s senior stars were a major dissapointment in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25. (Image: AFP)
Former India batter Navjot Singh Sidhu has come out in support of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma despite their poor outing in Australia during the recently concluded Border-Gavaskar Trophy, saying that the seniors should be given more ‘respect’.
Sidhu gave examples of Mark Taylor, Mohammed Azharuddin and Sourav Ganguly, who he says were allowed to make comebacks.
“If someone is in bad form for 2 months, you can’t delete them. I know you can’t rest on your laurels, you have to refresh them, but you have to give allowance. Mark Taylor failed for 1.5 years, (Mohammed) Azharuddin failed, (Sourav) Ganguly said that I can fail in 8 innings, but it just takes one to come back,” Sidhu was quoted as saying on Sports Today.
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Sindhu pointed out the fact that Kohli and Rohit were part of the leadership group that helped India win the 2024 T20 World Cup.
“They won you a World Cup 6 months ago, and now, you have ODI cricket throughout. You just can’t target the two and ignore others. Who showed consistency with the red ball? Blaming is the easiest thing, throwing stones is easy but there are a few who build homes with stones thrown at them, and these two are prime examples,” Sidhu said.
“It’s not the first time when Kohli faced criticism, people even drag his wife. It’s wrong, we must respect our heroes. Keep patience. Everyone goes through a rough period,” he added.
When asked particularly about Kohli and Rohit’s Test form, Sidhu said: “He (Kohli) goes home, he sees his videos, he will realise his bat is going far away from his body. He will find a solution. Rohit needs to work on his fitness, because he is a brilliant player.”
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Kohli could only manage 190 runs across five Tests, including a century in the first match, whereas Rohit scored only 31 runs across five innings and even stepped aside for the last Test.
