'Who am I to talk about Virat Kohli?': Shivam Dube's striking response to query on India great's lack of form in T20WC

With Virat Kohli racing away with a 741-run season in IPL 2024, veterans and experts could only imagine how the T20 World Cup would turn out for the former India captain. While most backed him to open for India as well after his heroics for Royal Challengers Bengaluru, few predicted that he would emerge as the leading run-getter in the tournament. But Kohli has not only failed to emulate his IPL form so far in the ICC tournament, his form has sparked a concern even as India have booked their place in the Super Eight stage.

In three matches so far in the World Cup, Kohli has recorded scores of 1, 4, and 0 against Ireland, Pakistan and the USA to register his worst-ever start to a T20 World Cup campaign. His golden duck against the co-hosts on Wednesday was also his second such score in his T20I career and first-ever in a World Cup.

What is an even bigger concern is that Kohli might not even get proper practice before India's first Super Eight game in Barbados on June 20, with the final group game against Canada on Saturday and the net session on Friday likely to get cancelled owing to the poor weather in Florida.

However, the Indian team are least bothered about Kohli's form as revealed by Shivam Dube's response to a query on the 35-year-old's run so far in the World Cup.

“Who am I to talk about Kohli? If he hasn't got runs in three games, he may well get three hundreds in the next three and there will be no more discussions. We all know his game and how he plays,” he said on Thursday.

Dube himself went through a bit of a rough patch on the tricky New York surface, scroing just three runs in the furst two matches for India, against Ireland and Pakistan respectively. However, the Chennai Super Kings batter bounced back strongly against the USA, to score a match-winning 35-ball 31.

"I was struggling with my form and focusing on my process," Dube said. "But here, there was no pressure. All the support staff and coaches backed me and told me, 'It's difficult, but you have the ability to hit sixes, so apply it.'

"I've never doubted myself for what I've done in the past. I just think that these conditions do not demand what I've done at CSK. These conditions require a different approach, so I was batting differently today," he added.