Former West Indies batter Brian Lara feels India needs to be patient with Virat Kohli. The talisman managed only five runs in three matches of the group stage of the ongoing T20 World Cup despite having a terrific run for Royal Challengers Bengaluru in IPL 2024.

In the opening Super 8 clash against Afghanistan on Thursday, Kohli managed a run-a-ball 24 before getting dismissed by the opposition captain, Rashid Khan. Kohli was looking to go over extra cover but found Mohammad Nabi at long-off as he could not get his placement right.

Kohli has scored 29 runs in four innings of the T20I showpiece at an average of 7.25 and he needs to turn the tables in the upcoming matches.

“24 of 24, you can say that’s not great but the most important thing is that he spent some time out there. India has got one step closer to winning this trophy. I believe that Virat Kohli is just gonna go from strength to strength as he comes down to the Caribbean. He’s going to Antigua next, you’re gonna see him go out there and plough and plough, he’s gonna get runs. When he gets into full swing, it’s a different story. We just have to be very patient with him, we’re gonna see a lot of him there’s still a lot of games left in this World Cup,” said Brian Lara on Star Sports.

Kohli finished IPL 2024 as the highest run scorer of the tournament with 741 runs to his name from 15 innings at an average of 61.75 and a strike rate of 154.69 but he hasn’t been able to carry the same form in the T20 World Cup.

India will next take on Bangladesh at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, North Sound, Antigua on Saturday.