Should Virat Kohli quit T20Is for the sake of Team India?

There is an old adage—an elephant in the room—and Indian cricket may be dealing with one right now in the form of Virat Kohli. The man who has been the pivot of India's batting for the past decade in all formats now appears to be a liability rather than an asset in T20Is. Yes, he hit a half-century against Hong Kong in Dubai on Wednesday, but he looked like a run collector throughout his innings, and the knock lacked fluency throughout.

Anyone who wants to put up the magnificent numbers that Virat Kohli has in T20Is, where he has scored over 3400 runs at an average of over 50 and a strike rate of over 137, is living in a foolhardy world. These figures were compiled over a 12-year period, and the style of cricket played back then was vastly different from what is currently in demand.

T20 cricket has evolved as a game because it is the quickest, most exciting, and most result-oriented format—for both cricketers and fans. Will you drive a Ford Ikon if you can afford a Mercedes-Benz now? You just answered your own question, which is also the answer to Virat Kohli's conundrum. The days of having few or no replacements for players are long gone. At the moment, every position has two to three contenders, including Kohli's. We'll get there in a minute, but first, consider the big picture.

T20s have changed, Kohli hasn't

Cut to 2016, when Kohli was arguably at the pinnacle of his career, leading the Blues to victories in unlikely circumstances. During the same season, he scored 973 runs in the IPL, a record that still shines brightly in Indian T20 league history. What has changed in the last six years? The approach is the solution.

Back in 2016, Team India's strategy would be to maximize the mandatory powerplay, go steady in the middle overs, and go all-out in the death overs, whether setting a target or chasing a difficult run-chase. The strategy served the Indian team well, as they recorded some epic victories as well as some forgettable losses along the way.

Modern-day cricketers' approach to T20s has evolved dramatically over time. An innings is now all about maintaining the tempo throughout, scoring big in possibly every over, and going for shots, regardless of the game situation. This does not imply mindless cricket, but maximizing every over increases the team's chances of scoring heavily and putting pressure on the opposing team. The greater the score, the greater the pressure, and thus the greater the team's chances of winning a game. In T20s, a par score is no longer considered a safe score, and teams are constantly looking for more and more runs.

This is precisely where Virat Kohli's issues surface and are now exposed. The Indian batting legend approaches his T20 innings in a consistent and predictable manner. He will not score boundaries as soon as he gets out in the middle, nor will he give you big overs at the end, as he lacks the power to consistently hit the ball out of the park like Kieron Pollard, David Miller, or even Hardik Pandya.

For India in T20s, Kohli's main job is to control the middle overs, keep the tempo of the innings up, and, most importantly, score at a rate that allows the lower-middle order and finishers to take the team to a match-winning score.

Kohli is capable of accomplishing this. He might be able to deliver it here and there, but expecting the 33-year-old to keep doing it, outside of his comfort zone, given his current poor form, would be unreasonable. It does not come naturally to him, unlike Surya Kumar Yadav, who is built to hit the ball from the start.

With Kohli struggling, should India push SKY at number 3?

Kohli has been at number three for a long time and is already the highest run-scorer in the format at the position. The right-hander has 2563 runs in 65 innings, including 26 half-centuries, for an average of 55.71 and a strike rate of more than 135. Again, numbers can be deceiving, but these are serious figures.

The match against Hong Kong gave fans a glimpse of who will most likely replace Virat Kohli after the 2022 T20 World Cup in Australia. Why I wonder, wait until the World Cup to make a decision in the best interests of the game?

Simple cricket logic dictates that the team's best batsman should bat at number three. According to this logic, no one else deserves to bat at the position, not just in the Asia Cup, but also in the World Cup later this year. T20s have a small margin for error, and bowlers know that with SKY at the crease, India can always win. Why should Indian cricket suffer at another ICC event simply because of the reputation of a veteran who is clearly past his prime? Dropping Kohli to number four or even forcing him to sit out a game shouldn't be a problem because no one is bigger than the game.

No one missed Kohli's absence for a month because the team was winning, even though the victories came against weaker opponents like the West Indies and Zimbabwe. The young players demonstrated that they are ready to step up and win games for their country.

Kohli's form in T20Is has also been erratic since the beginning of 2020, not in terms of runs scored, but the falling strike rate suggests that the pressure of scoring quickly and playing outside his comfort zone has undoubtedly influenced his game plan. A strike rate that was close to 148 in 2019 fell to 141.82 in 2020 and then to 132.88 the following year.

Kohli's scoring rate in 2022 was the lowest in his career, at 124.11. Do we need to say more?

Is it time to hand over the baton?

Even the great Sachin Tendulkar did it in 2012-13, when he handed over the baton of the best batsman in the lineup to Virat Kohli. They say history repeats itself, and it's possible that Kohli will do something similar soon.

The Blues' game against Hong Kong removed any doubt in Team India fans' minds about what the future holds for both Kohli and SKY.

By the end of the Indian innings, two batsmen—Kohli and Surya Kumar Yadav—had both scored half-centuries, remained unbeaten until the end, and helped India reach a par score of 192. SKY was at his blistering best, smashing 68 runs in only 26 balls, while Kohli scored 59 runs off 44 balls. Both scored half-centuries, but their innings were vastly different.

Kohli's knock was more watchful and played to the merit of the ball, and he only took off later after watching SKY at the other end. Surya was in a completely different zone and took off from the first ball, smashing boundaries and hitting sixes at will. For him, there appeared to be no fielders on the ground as the ball bounced back into the stands or into the gaps.

Suryakumar used scoops, sweeps, and flicks, as well as two stunning sixes over point, to reach his half-century in 22 balls, the fastest in T20 internationals. SKY's knock had such an impact that even King Kohli bowed to the right-hander batter's brilliance, an image of which has gone viral on the internet.

"SKY played an outstanding knock, a knock that I enjoyed thoroughly from the other end," Kohli said during a conversation with Suryakumar for BCCI.tv.

"I've seen so many innings when we play in the IPL [against each other], or that being done to other teams, but this was my first experience of watching very closely. I was completely blown away. I honestly believe that the way you played today, if you can stay in that zone, you can literally change the complexion of the game against any team in the world."

So, even the king admits that Surya has the ability to win matches for India in any situation and against any opponent. If India is to repeat as World Champions, tough decisions must be made, even if they are against arguably the best batsman Indian cricket has ever seen. Kohli is such a talented player that he will score runs, if not today, then tomorrow. The question here is not about scoring runs, but about making an impact and helping a team win. Can India afford to bring a struggling Kohli to a World Cup where one bad game could mean elimination, as happened last year in Dubai?

With suitable replacements available and Indian cricket in peak form, it is critical that selectors think about the future rather than worrying about giving a game legend an extended run to allow him to regain his form.

Would Virat Kohli have become a great of the game today if he had not been given ample opportunities at the start of his career in place of a struggling cricketer under MS Dhoni's regime? The same formula holds true for Virat Kohli. Selection should be based on merit rather than a player's reputation.

It would be a shame for Indian cricket if SKY continued to bat lower down the order in order to accommodate Kohli at number three. Even if Kohli withdraws from the game today, he will not lose anything. He is a giant and cult figure in Indian cricket history, but every active cricketer must become a part of history at some point. Maybe Kohli's time has come, but he isn't ready to accept it, and neither are his fans.

Also Read: Hey! Captains, watch out, the clock is ticking.

(The author is an expert in cricket and has worked as a sports writer for broadcast and multimedia platforms for nearly a decade.)