Virat Kohli needs a break, can't lose him with fried brain: Ravi Shastri

Kohli, who is having a dismal performance, scored a first-ball duck against Lucknow Super Giants on Tuesday.

Prior to the Lucknow match, Kohli was found short of the crease when he tried to get an impossible single run very early in his innings against Delhi Capitals.

Following the series of setbacks, former Indian head coach Ravi Shastri, who is known to be close to Kohli, said, "When I was coach at the time when this first started, the first thing I said wasWhether it's 2 months or a month-and-a-half, whether it's after England or before England."

"He needs a break because he has got 6-7 years of cricket left in him and you don't want to lose that with a fried brain. He is not the only one. There might be 1 or 2 in world cricket going through the same.

"You need to address the problem upfront 'you have to show empathy to the guys'. If you're going to be forceful, there is a very thin line there, from a guy losing the plot as opposed to him hanging in there and giving his best. So you have to be extremely careful," the cricket legend added.

In the ongoing season of IPL, Kohli scored 119 runs in seven matches at an average of 19.83.

Despite Kohli's duck, RCB managed to defeat Lucknow Super Giants courtesy to skipper Faf du Plessis' 96 and a four-wicket haul of Josh Hazlewood.