Kohli’s runs are crucial to India’s success, despite him not being the captain: Agarkar

New Delhi : Former fast bowler Ajit Agarkar feels Virat Kohli will have a major role to play for India in the T20 series against West Indies despite not being the captain of the team anymore, adding that the team management should give clarity to the star batter about his role in the T20I side.

The 33-year old Kohli, who left India’s T20I captaincy after the T20 World Cup last year, will play the shortest format of the game under captain Rohit Sharma for the first time when India take on West Indies in a 3-match series from Wednesday at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.

“I think one of the top things about Virat Kohli, when he was captain, was that he didn’t let his form falter. His runs didn’t dry up with the extra pressure that can happen sometimes — that didn’t happen with him which was his greatness as a captain as well,” Agarkar told Star Sports.

“So now that the pressure of being the captain is off, there might still be a role for him. Whether that’s to play a bit more aggressively or still bat the whole innings remains to be seen. I think that’s for the team management to decide but Virat Kohli’s runs are crucial for India. Every time he scores runs, India invariably end up winning. So, his form is crucial to India’s success as well,” he added.

Agarkar also spoke about the roles of Shreyas Iyer and Suryakumar Yadav and gave his opinion on who will be a better pick for the T20I.

“Both are very good players as well as good strikers of the ball. I just feel Suryakumar Yadav is more versatile if you need him to bat a little bit higher or ‘ven if it’s at 5 or 6, he seems to have a bit more to his game or more all-around ability to his batting than Shreyas Iyer,” he said.

“Shreyas Iyer is a terrific player who can strike the ball well but at this point, if I had to pick one out of the two, it’ll have to be Suryakumar Yadav because he just seems in better form,” he added.