A lot of eyes at the Asia Cup 2022 will be on India star Virat Kohli. The ace batter has been struggling for form recently, and his appearance at the continental event would be his first for India in over a month, the veteran having taken a break.
Former Australian all-rounder Shane Watson felt that when it came to Kohli, the former India skipper is "way too good to not just get back into that groove again".
Much-needed break
And the month off, Watson said, made it all the more likely that fans would see the best of Kohli again at the tournament.
"Having time off for him certainly, would [help him] just be able to regenerate mentally, physically, just be able to get away from the game of cricket,” said Watson.
"You could just see that his energy was a bit sapped, even during the IPL. You could tell, no matter how much he tried—he was always up and about, but you could see the light was just out a tiny bit."
Kohli has only played 16 matches for India this year, with only four T20Is among them, the last of which came in July against England. But Watson feels that the month-long break would keep Kohli fresh for the Asia Cup.
Rejuvenated Virat Kohli
"This month that he’s had off cricket will make sure that that light’s shining very bright going into this Asia Cup, knowing there’s a T20 World Cup in Australia coming up very soon as well.
"So when you’re able to have a break, and because the Indian cricketers in particular play so much cricket, for Virat to be able to have some time off, especially a month, that’s just going to regenerate everything he needs to be able to take stock of what happened, freshen up mentally and physically.
"He’s too good not to be able to find his groove. It’ll only take him a couple of balls, get into the battle again, and away he goes."
India open their Asia Cup 2022 campaign against arch-rivals Pakistan on Sunday, August 28 in Dubai.
