India will begin its 2022 Asia Cup T20 commitments against Pakistan in Dubai on Sunday. It would also see the return of Virat Kohli after a short break. Meanwhile, Mohammad Kaif feels Kohli should be back to scoring runs.
As far as former Indian skipper and top-order batter Virat Kohli is concerned, he has been going through one of the most challenging phases of his career. He has consistently struggled to score runs and has been without an international century for nearly three years. While he was on a short break from the sport for the last couple of months, he is making his comeback to the side. On Sunday, he will play India's Asia Cup T20 2022 opening match against arch-rival Pakistan at the Dubai International Stadium. While fans wonder if the break would be of any help to him that could allow him to get back into scoring runs, former Indian middle-order batter Mohammad Kaif sounded optimistic about it.
Speaking to IANS in an exclusive interaction, Kaif reckoned, "I think Virat Kohli will get advantage from the break he took. His mind was switched off as there were a lot of thoughts in his mind, which is not a good thing as a cricketer wants that there isn't much doubt in mind."
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"Doubts had come into his mind by how he played, and his form wasn't that great. It was the first time in Virat Kohli's life that such a phase came where he wondered where to get runs from. In his journey, he has such dream spells where phases like this didn't come," added Kaif.
"He was making centuries, winning matches for his team was inspiring people as a leader and captain, and many were following what Virat Kohli was doing on the field. But for the first time, he was in a phase in his life where the bat was quiet for two-three years, wasn't the captain as Rohit Sharma has taken over and many other players came," Kaif continued.
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Kaif also felt that switching off from cricket allowed the focus and burden to shift from Kohli. "I feel that the break he took will benefit him. The reason behind it is that during a break, you switch off completely and when you aren't in focus. In the weeks where India played against Zimbabwe and West Indies, there wasn't focus on Virat Kohli, which was a good thing, and I am sure that he would get runs in the match [vs Pakistan]," he concluded.