"Kohli is such a great player. He has set such high standards with his earlier performances that anything less than that will raise questions. However, he should not get affected by the criticism and we can see that he is not. He is analysing his game and putting efforts to return to his form. The team management should support him in every manner," he said.Karim also feels that Kohli should not be rested and should play more cricket which will help him in getting his confidence back."I feel that it's better for him to play more and more cricket so that he can return to his form. The management and selectors should also focus and support his process to come back to his form and give more chances," Karim said.He further hailed Rohit Sharma for his patience and the way he supports Virat Kohli during these testing times."I don't think the criticism is affecting the team negatively. The team has a good bonhomie, whenever you ask Rohit about Virat's form, his answer is always positive. Even Rahul Dravid seems positive when it comes to Kohli's form", he said.Asked whether he sees Rishabh Pant as the next captain of Team India, Karim said that the wicket-keeper batsman has shown some spectacular match-winning skills especially overseas. Karim said that he believes that Pant will be a big name in the next few years. However, he noted that a player should focus on his performance and not on donning the skipper's hat."Pant is a special player and has match-winning abilities. I believe that he can emerge as big player for India in all three formats. Looking at his performances in the overseas, yes we can say that he is a possible candidate for the next captain. But I think every player should focus on giving match-winning performances and not on getting the captain's hat," Karim concluded.
--IANScs/akm
(Disclaimer: This post has been auto published from IANS news agency without any modification to the text and has not been reviewed by editor)
