Exclusive | Funny how people are reacting after Virat Kohli has one bad tour: Kuldeep Yadav

Indian leg-spinner Kuldeep Yadav has come to Virat Kohli's defence after the Indian skipper has been criticised for his poor show in the tour of New Zealand which completed last week with India losing two of the three formats. Kohli scored only 218 runs in nine innings across formats, incurring his worst overseas series since the horror tour of England in 2014. On the other hand, India were whitewashed in the ODIs and Tests after scripting a 5-0 winning margin in the T20Is. 

Kohli's scores read: 45, 11, 38, 11 in T20Is; 51, 15 and 9 in ODIs and 2, 19, 3 and 14 in Tests. His tally throughout the tour was his worst since his 254 in England in 2014. Moreover, his total of 38 in the Tests at 9.50 was also his worst ever in his career. 

Questions were immediately raised over his technique against the in-coming deliveries while many asked if he could find his old self. But Kuldeep laughed it off saying that he finds it funny at how people react after Kohli has just one bad series. 

"Funny how people are reacting after Virat Kohli has one bad tour. He is such a big player, he has hit so many centuries year after year. His hunger for runs never stops and can never be stopped. So you cannot blame him for his technique after one bad tour. This is absolutely wrong. Now in the next series, he will hit centuries and people will forget the previous ones and start celebrating. I think nobody has the right to criticise such a big player," said Kuldeep in an exclusive interview with India TV.

When further asked that Kohli could hit big against him in the impending IPL 2020, Kuldeep said with a smile, "I always want to dismiss him and last IPL I had succeeded. I want him to score centuries but I also want him to score less against me."

Kuldeep is expected to feature in the ODI series against South Africa which begins from March 12 onwards. Kohli, however, is expected to be rested. 

(With inputs from India TV correspondent Vaibhav Bhola)