Rajkumar Sharma backs Virat Kohli to shine in Champions Trophy, says he will perform like a champion player

Virat Kohli’s childhood coach Rajkumar Sharma has backed his pupil to deliver the goods in the upcoming Champions Trophy. Kohli has been under the pump for his recent form and it will be crucial for India that he bats at his absolute best in the eight-team tournament.

The talisman could only manage 190 runs in five Test matches against Australia at an average of 23.75. Kohli was dismissed after scoring only six runs in the Ranji Trophy clash against Railways. Furthermore, he could only manage five runs in the second ODI against England at Cuttack however he scored an impressive knock of 52 runs off 55 balls at Ahmedabad.

Speaking on the sidelines of the Restaurant Cricket League, Rajkumar Sharma said, “Just because some matches went bad, does not mean the player is out-of-touch. When you look at his previous records, you will see what he did for the country. I believe that he will be performing like the champion player he always has been.”

Sharma admitted that India will miss the services of their gun fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah, who provides breakthroughs at both ends of an innings. Bumrah has been ruled out with a lower back injury, which he suffered in the fifth Test match against Australia at Sydney and he has been replaced by rookie pacer Harshit Rana.

“It is unfortunate because Bumrah is our ace fast bowler and his presence will be missed. I consider him as number one bowler as he brings breakthroughs in initial stages and does well in death overs too.”

India will begin their Champions Trophy campaign against Bangladesh in Dubai on February 20.

India: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Ravindra Jadeja, Varun Chakaravarthy.