Covid-19 Hurt Virat Kohli: Kevin Pietersen Reveals Chat With Kohli During Batter’s Poor Run

New Delhi: Former England cricketer Kevin Pietersen has opened up on Virat Kohli’s lean patch that saw Kohli not score a century for three years. Virat Kohli is one of the greatest batters to have played the game. The India stalwart is a proud owner of mind-boggling cricket records. The veteran batter is only behind Sachin Tendulkar in terms of most international centuries and many believe that Kohli will surpass the Little Master at some point in his career.

Virat Kohli went through a massive slump post the 2019 Cricket World Cup and failed to score a century for about three years. Many felt that Virat Kohli is a finished product as the batter looked a pale shadow of his own.

Kohli was throwing away his wicket after getting starts which was rare to see as he has always been a very disciplined batter. Kohli though roared back to form in the 2022 Asia Cup where he scored a T20 century against Afghanistan. Virat then scored an ODI hundred against Bangladesh and two ODI centuries against Sri Lanka. However, the batter was keen to get a Test hundred. He showed signs of breaking the long hiatus in the first few games of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy before finally reaching the three-figure mark in the fourth Test.

Pietersen hailed Virat Kohli for his passion and said that COVID-19 hampered Virat Kohli’s juggernaut in international cricket. The England batter revealed that he told Virat Kohli to relax and not think too much about the lack of runs. Pietersen said that he was very happy to see Virat Kohli get his 75th century, which he scored against Australia.

“Virat, I’ve known for a very long time. The way that he plays the game. So passionate, so abrasive, so emotional,” Pietersen said to Betway.

“I think Covid hurt him. I said it to him. “Just chill, dude, it’s Covid, you’re an entertainer. You cannot play with three people and their dog watching you play cricket. To see him get that 75th hundred. People were foolish not to back him and not to support him,” he added.