Virat Kohli came out in forceful support of Shikhar Dhawan yesterday, defending Dhawan’s recent record.

Dhawan averaged 25.2 in the one-day series against South Africa in the past, But he was bowled for zero, in the first test, that too in both innings.

On the other hand, Shikhar Dhawan made an unbeaten 45 in the second Test, before rain washed out the last four days.

Responding to this, Kohli said, “If you call scoring two hundreds in three Test matches struggling, then I don’t know what ‘in-form’ is.”

Kohli further said, “He got a hundred in Galle, and a hundred in Bangladesh (Fatullah). Unfortunately, he got injured afterwards and played his next Test match only in Mohali. So let’s not be too hard on someone because of two or three innings. This is international cricket.”

Kohli, who seems unwilling to accept that Dhawan faced a downfall, had said, “We have to be patient with players like Shikhar because he is an impact player.”

“We need to give him as much confidence as we can. When he gets going, he wins you the game, that is a certainty. I don’t think he has been out of form; he has been batting beautifully.”

“Sometimes, you will not get the scores that you desire, but how you are playing at that moment is important,” Kohli said.

Kohli who is unable to stop the excitement, while talking about Shikhar, has further said, “Shikhar is hitting the ball well and he got runs here which is good for his mental set-up.”

“We don’t see any issues with his batting or his confidence. We have to let the individual come into his own, and not put too much pressure on him. I’m sure he is happy with the way he batted here.”

“If he had more overs to bat, he would have been 70 or 80 not out or would possibly have got a hundred. He is the sort of player who can take the game away very quickly.”

Yesterday, after the IND vs SA, match was called off, Dhawan was spotted out on the pitch, with the assistant coach Sanjay Bangar, bowling at him.

Referring that, Kohli said, “I’m delighted that he is feeling good about his batting. I’m sure he would want to score a lot of runs in this series.”

By Phani Ch