Former player Sanjay Manjrekar believes Virat Kohli must "settle his mind" and not pressurise himself by overthinking or practicing a lot, ahead of India's key clash against arch rivals Pakistan in the Champions Trophy in Dubai on Sunday. Kohli, who has struggled against spin bowling of late in one-day cricket, arrived at practice a couple of hours before the others and spent a considerable time facing spinners in the nets on Saturday.
After he fell to Bangladesh spinner Rishad Hossain in the tournament-opener on Thursday, Sunil Gavaskar had also expressed his concerns over Kohli's form.
"When you (Kohli) are slightly out of form and runs, you think of practising too much and thinking too much... sometimes (you) just over do it. Just keep hitting the balls in the nets. It's more of mind thing (and) not (just) about (the) batting technique," said JioHotstar expert Manjrekar in a virtual interaction.
"He is going through a difficult time, and has (had) some technical issues... in the last match he lacked confidence but he is trying his best. He just needs to settle his mind a little bit without trying too hard, and go out there with a relaxed mind," Manjrekar added.
Manjrekar said it was a "sorry situation" with Rishabh Pant as India continue to play KL Rahul as their wicketkeeper-batter.
"India were pretty good (against Bangladesh), most boxes got ticked. I don't see drastic changes if the pitch is doesn't demand. Kuldeep (Yadav) needs a little more game time. Rahul got some runs, so I don't think any new wicketkeeper-batter is going to replace him," he said.
"Till Rahul is contributing, Pant will stay out but Pant is rare talent for India. It's a sorry situation for him." Manjrekar feels India are firm favourites to win the match on Sunday, provided Pakistan shows significant improvement.
"India is looking really good. Pakistan's bowling didn't make an impression on me, the spinners didn't improve, Shaheen (Shah Afridi) needs to lift his game. They need a little bit of tweaking here and there. Pakistan has to raise their game by leaps and by bounds to win," he said.
Manjrekar was also full of praise for opener Shubman Gill, who struck an unbeaten 101 off 129 balls in India's six-wicket win over Bangladesh. "The form he is in, I (have) already predicted that he will become player of the tournament," he said.
Former Pakistan left-arm pacer Wahab Riaz, meanwhile, hoped Mohammad Rizwan's side would bounce back strongly against India after losing to New Zealand by 60 runs in their first match at Karachi.
"They (Pakistan) can definitely bounce back by winning against India. Hopefully, they can perform. Pakistan can win the match but the best thing is that it is the perfect platform to give their best," he said.
"We need to stay at the present monment, the team that absorbs pressure well, and not think and live in the present moment will win," he said. Pakistan played well in patches, but consistency (was) missing. They didn't play ODIs much, played T20s more," he added.
Riaz said India pacer Mohammed Shami has also bowled expensive spells despite his dominating show in ODI cricket.
"Shami is the best bowler for India in place of (Jasprit) Bumrah, but Shami can leak runs as well and we have seen that in the past. It's a big stage, a platform where players can perform and become stars and win the game for the country," he said.
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