Former England spinner Monty Panesar drew parallels of Virat Kohli and Manchester United star footballer Cristiano Ronaldo and stated dropping out-of-form ex-Indian skipper from the team might hamper the sponsorship deals of the BCCI. (More Cricket News)
After having a below-par IPL 2022, Kohli’s poor form with the bat continued in England too. He scored 11 and 20 (fifth Test), 1 (2nd T20), 11 (3rd T20) and 16 (2nd ODI). Kohli’s last international century two and half years back in 2019.
“It’s like Cristiano Ronaldo. Whenever Ronaldo plays for Manchester United, everyone’s watching football. Virat Kohli is the same. He has got a huge following and attraction,” Panesar was quoted as saying to TOI.
The 33-year-old Kohli is one of the biggest marketable faces in the world of sports with loads of endorsement deals under his belt. Panesar feels BCCI needs to be careful while handling Kohli.
“Are BCCI under pressure too, regardless of whatever the result and role Virat Kohli has to play, to keep the sponsors happy? That's probably the biggest question. They can't drop him or afford to drop him because they'll probably lose huge financial sponsorship,” said Panesar.
“The difficulty here is that he is the most marketable cricketer in the world. Fans love him a lot. We all just love Virat and his intensity. Sometimes, it's borderline, but he's very much admired in England. So, from the BCCI's perspective, they've got to sit down and decide,” he added.
Kohli, along with other senior players were rested in the first T20 against England. The owner of 70 international hundreds too missed the first ODI against England due to a mild groin strain before returning in the second. He is likely to feature in the third ODI on Sunday.
Meanwhile, Kohli was rested for the upcoming five-match T20 series against West Indies starting later this month.
