Younis Khan: “I had adopted a simple formula – I went back to my basics. I feel Virat too should not think about what lies ahead. He should go back to his basics and play according to the situation, play for the team”

Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani

Legendary Pakistan batsman Younis Khan has advised India superstar Virat Kohli to stick to the basics as he continues to rediscover his form.

Kohli endured a nightmare two-year period where he was unable to score runs on a regular basis.

This resulted in many people calling for him to be dropped or take a break from cricket.

However, Kohli persisted and fought through the storm and is now slowly getting back to his best.

“Several players have gone through extended phases of lean patches in their international careers. They have been short of runs and without enough good performances. You tend to feel as if maybe this could be your last game or last series,” Younis told The Telegraph India.

“I too have gone through such phases. But I had adopted a simple formula – I went back to my basics. I feel Virat too should not think about what lies ahead. He should go back to his basics and play according to the situation, play for the team, and then, with the little bit of energy that is left, he can utilise it to play for himself.

“He needs to develop this mindset of trying to focus on the present and not looking back at the past, and then look to fight for his team.”

The 33-year-old has been brilliant for India in the T20 World Cup as he scored a match-winning 82 not out against Pakistan before following that up with an unbeaten 62 against the Netherlands.

Thanks to his efforts with the bat, the men in blue are looking in good shape.

Pakistan, meanwhile, are having a rough ride as they lost to India by four wickets off the last ball of the match.

Zimbabwe then stunned them by one run to leave their campaign in dire straits.

With their campaign on the rocks, the men in green will now take on the Netherlands in Perth on Sunday.

Pakistan’s 2022 T20 World Cup squad: Babar Azam (captain), Shadab Khan (vice-captain), Asif Ali, Fakhar Zaman, Haider Ali, Haris Rauf, Iftikhar Ahmed, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Shan Masood

Reserves: Mohammad Haris, Shahnawaz Dahani and Usman Qadir

ALSO CHECK OUT: The Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo of cricket, Shadab Khan on Pakistan megastar