New Delhi, Feb 18 (IANS): Former India cricketer Wasim Jaffer has backed under-pressure Virat Kohli, despite the India team player going through a rough patch in the home series against the West Indies. Jaffer added that like Kohli, every cricketer goes through this phase.

Kohli's lean patch continued in the ODI series against the touring side as he had scores of 8, 18 and 0 in the three matches and he looked far from his sublime self.

In the first T20I on February 16 at the Eden Gardens, Kohli only managed 17 runs off 12 balls.

Jaffer, who represented Mumbai in his playing days, opined that Kohli needs to show some patience as things are not going his way.

"Every cricketer goes through this phase where he is unable to score. I think Kohli is trying his level best, but he needs some patience. I think, once he breaks the barrier, he will score runs consistently as he used to do in the past," Jaffer was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.

"I am sure he is working as hard behind the scenes as he has been doing all these years, and with the same intensity. I am sure we will see consistent scores from him again," he added.

Indian head coach Rahul Dravid had earlier backed Kohli during the team's tour of South Africa, saying that every cricketer, especially those who play for a long period, goes through such phases.

"Even though he batted well and couldn't convert those starts, I really feel there's going to be a big run of really good scores coming in from someone like him," Dravid had said.