India have been urged to drop superstar batter Virat Kohli for their upcoming tour of England following his struggles in Australia.
Kohli, one of the best players of his generation, has suffered a significant dip in form in recent years and continued to struggle during the recent Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
The 36-year-old scored his 30th Test century in the series opener in Perth as India thrashed Australia to take an early lead, but contributed just 85 runs in his next seven innings.
Kohli looked vulnerable outside the off stump, repeatedly nicking off as Australia mounted an impressive comeback to win the series 3-1 and book their place in this summer’s World Test Championship final at Lord’s.
India will also be in England in 2025 as they face Ben Stokes’ side in a five-match Test series, but it remains to be seen whether Kohli is part of the touring party.
Kohli averaged less than 25 across 10 Tests in 2024 and has only scored three hundreds since the start of 2020.
Discussing Kohli’s drop-off, ex-England cricketer and coach David ‘Bumble’ Lloyd told talkSPORT: ‘Virat Kohli is 36. I was 36 when I retired but there’s a bit of difference between the ability of Virat Kohli and me.
‘He will know he is past his best and that will hurt. I knew, I wanted to finish earlier but was persuaded to keep playing county cricket.
‘He knows what he should be doing up there [in his mind] but you’re reflexes just gently go. Most players hang on and perhaps go on too long.
‘Has he got enough credit in the bank? He’s been world-class, one of the best we’ve seen, but he’s past his best.
‘The question is have India got better players and do they want to build for the future now? It’s been a prolonged spell now for Kohli.
‘If you keep nicking off, it’s a tell-tale sign for anybody that your reflexes, your reactions, are gone.’
Asked whether he would take Kohli on India’s tour of England, the former Sky Sports pundit responded: ‘No.’
Australian journalist and broadcaster Jarrod Kimber also believes India should omit Kohli from their Test squad going forward.
‘I wouldn’t pick him, no,’ he said. ‘He’s been on the decline for a while overall even though he’s been able to produce some good innings.
‘I don’t think he can play against England. I thought it was very fair to take him to Australia but other than that hundred in Perth, he didn’t really make another run.
‘I thought he had to make a significant amount of runs in Australia to get on the England tour and he didn’t do that.
‘He’s had one good year in his last four or five years now, it’s a long period of time now. With most players, when that decline starts, it doesn’t come back.’
The Border-Gavaskar Trophy was India’s second successive series defeat following a shock 3-0 loss at home to New Zealand.
England were beaten 4-1 by India in the last series between the two sides but largely impressed in 2024, winning eight of their 12 Tests.
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