Amid a growing social media chatter describing talismanic Team India cricketer Virat Kohli as a "curse" on whichever team he plays for, two pundits of the sport have backed the Delhi-born cricketer to end his trophyless run in the World Test Championship (WTC) final against Australia this week.
The Rohit Sharma-led Indian cricket team would face the Australians for the ultimate prize in Test cricket, the five-day version of the game, at the Oval in London, starting Wednesday.
Kohli and Team India have not won an International Cricket Council (ICC) title since 2013 when India trumped hosts England in a low-scoring final of the Champions Trophy. But that victory came under the legendary Mahendra Singh Dhoni's captaincy and since then, the Indians have struggled to go past the finish line.
The Rohit Sharma-led Indian cricket team would face the Australians for the ultimate prize in Test cricket, the five-day version of the game, at the Oval in London, starting Wednesday.
Kohli and Team India have not won an International Cricket Council (ICC) title since 2013 when India trumped hosts England in a low-scoring final of the Champions Trophy. But that victory came under the legendary Mahendra Singh Dhoni's captaincy and since then, the Indians have struggled to go past the finish line.
However, Kohli's trolling on Twitter with cricket supporters calling him a "panauti (a luckless person whose bad luck is infectious)" and a "curse" is more to do with his record in the Indian Premier League (IPL), the top T20 tournament in the world.
Despite all the accolades and records he has earned on the cricket field, Kohli has failed to win a single IPL trophy for his franchise Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) even after spending 16 years with the Karnataka-based side.
Even this year, the RCB couldn't progress through to the playoffs of the competition, ending another season without a trophy in the IPL although Kohli sparkled in the event, smashing two tons and six half-centuries.
Still, a group of Kohli haters on the microblogging site claimed that he shouldn't be included in India's playing XI for the WTC final against Australia because he brings "misfortune" to the team. And hence, the side would be better off without him.
But ex-India cricketer Gopal Sharma doesn't agree with the opinion of this section of Kohli bashers on the internet.
According to him, Kohli has always given his best on the ground, even producing some of the most memorable batting displays under sheer pressure. But he alone cannot win trophies for India or RCB.
"Kohli being the competitor that he is, would want to win a trophy as soon as possible. But cricket isn't an individual sport and Kohli can only do as much as he can. Unless there is a collective performance from the team, India would not be able to lift a title," Sharma told Sputnik on Wednesday.
Sharma added that Kohli's batting would be vital for India in the all-important WTC final against Pat Cummins and his boys because a big score from his bat will help them in putting up a huge total on the board.
Similar sentiments were shared by cricket historian Abhishek Mukherjee who noted that a cricket player's career should never be judged based on social media trends.
"A cricketer's career should always be judged based on his achievements and not on what the people are saying online," Mukherjee told Sputnik over the phone. "Social media trends do not last the test of time and don't really contribute to a cricketer's legacy."