London: India skipper Rohit Sharma once again backed Virat Kohli who has been going through a lean patch.
Missing the first ODI against England with a groin injury, Kohli made just 16 in the second match, which India lost by 100 runs at Lord's on Thursday.
In the post match presser, Rohit interrupted the journalist who started a question on Kohli. He said: "Kyun ho rahi hai yaar charcha. Matlab mujhe samajh mein nahi aata, bhai. (Why is this discussion happening. I can't understand this)"
"He has played for so long, he has played so many matches, he is such a great batsman, so He doesn't need reassurance," Rohit said.
"I pointed to this in my last press conference, too: form goes up and down, that is part and parcel of any cricketer's career. So a player like him, who has played for so many years, who has made so many runs, who has won so many matches, he only needs one or two good innings to bounce back. That is my thinking and I am sure all those who follow cricket will think similarly," Indian skipper said.
"We do have chats about this topic, but we should also understand and think when we talk about such things. We have seen that the performance of all players goes up and down, but the quality of the player never gets worse. That we all should keep in mind. That is very important. Yaar, matlab, bande ne itne run banaya hai (he has made so many runs), check his average, how many hundreds he has made, he has vast experience of doing that. There is a slump in every player's life."
Earlier in the week, Kohli found support from captain, who stood up for his teammate ahead of the England ODIs.
“When someone is scoring consistently for so long, we can’t overlook his contribution if he is not scoring in one or two series or in one or two years," Rohit said.
Kohli has now gone 77 consecutive international innings without reaching three figures, after scores of 1 and 11 in the T20I series and failures in the rescheduled fifth Test. (UNI)