'People have dragged Virat Kohli's wife, too': Sidhu furious at 'blame games' in unfiltered rant, calls for 'respect'

Team India's two batting stalwarts, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, are enduring a rough patch with the bat, particularly in the longest format of the game. While Kohli score only 190 runs across five Tests of the series against Australia – which included a century in the first match – Rohit sidelined himself for the last Test owing to poor form. The Indian captain scored only 31 runs across five innings in the series; the torrid phase with the bat has ignited criticism and questions over their futgure in the side. Virat Kohli walks back after his dismissal on Day 1 of Sydney Test on Friday. (AFP)(HT_PRINT)

However, former India batter Navjot Singh Sidhu has strongly supported the batting duo, stating that they need to be given a longer rope and more “respect.” Talking to Sports Today, Sidhu provided examples of former players like Mark Taylor and Sourav Ganguly, who were given long “allowances” to make a comeback.

“If someone is in bad form for 2 months, you can't delete them. I know you can't rest on your laurels, you have to refresh them, but you have to give allowance. Mark Taylor failed for 1.5 years, (Mohammed) Azharuddin failed, (Sourav) Ganguly said that I can fail in 8 innings, but it just takes one to come back,” Sidhu said.

Don't blame them

Sidhu further stated that the duo played a key role in India's T20 World Cup victory not too long ago, and as India gear up for another limited-overs season – this time in ODIs – it is essential that Rohit and Kohli are backed. He lashed out at the blame games on the duo, and especially on Kohli, insisting that fans cross personal boundaries while criticising the player, too.

“They won you a World Cup 6 months ago, and now, you have ODI cricket throughout. You just can't target the two and ignore others. Who showed consistency with the red ball? Blaming is the easiest thing, Throwing stones is easy, but there are a few who build homes with stones thrown at them, and these two are prime examples,” Sidhu said.

“It's not the first time when Kohli faced criticism, people even drag his wife. It's wrong, we must respect our heroes. Keep patience. Everyone goes through a rough period.”

When asked particularly about their Test form, Sidhu said Kohli will have a deeper look at his weakness, analyse his videos and come back stronger. Rohit, meanwhile, needs to “work on his fitness.”

“He goes home, he sees his videos, he will realise his bat is going far away from his body. He will find a solution. Rohit needs to work on his fitness, because he is a brilliant player,” said Sidhu.

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