Virat Kohli has been battling poor form throughout the year, and averages only 25 in the 9 matches he has played in 2024.
The time might just be running out for Virat Kohli — the Test batter. In the ongoing IND vs AUS Test series, the 36-year-old Virat Kohli has largely failed, except for that majestic ton in Perth. In the Brisbane Test too, Virat Kohli succumbed to his weakness outside off, that is leading to his downfall. This year, in the first innings’ of a Test, he only averages only 9, which is poor by every standard.
Virat Kohli has a kryptonite, and it’s the balls outside off-stump. All his dismissals in the four innings thus far of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy have come edging the ball pitched on either fourth or fifth stump. Why Kohli continues to poke at them, only he knows, but truth be told, time is running out. Even the great Virat Kohli can’t figure out how to deal with it. At 36, more than fitness, of which Kohli is the ultimate king, reflexes and muscle memories play a more vital role.
Virat Kohli’s current form a space for criticism and concern amongst the cricketing world
Since the start of 2020, Virat Kohli has scored 1961 runs in 64 innings at 32.14, with only three centuries and nine fifties. Among the Fab Four, Virat Kohli ranks the lowest in terms of average, with Kane Williamson leading the overall chart of cricketers who have at least batted in 25 innings since 2020. Moreover, among all the players who batted for India in the top 7 during this period, Virat Kohli finds his name only ahead of Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane, both of whom were dropped in 2023 following a lean run of form.
The 36-year-old Virat Kohli’s Test average has plunged to an eight-year low of 47.72. In 2024, Virat Kohli averages 26.64 after 16 innings, his lowest for any calendar year where he has appeared in at least 10 innings. He has only aggregated three Test hundreds since 2020. The former India captain fell for scores of 7 and 11 in Adelaide, caught behind on both occasions.
Virat Kohli faced a lot of criticism in the lead-up to the tour of Australia, following a lean run of form, including the performance against New Zealand at home, Australia great Ricky Ponting had pointed out that the 36-year-old scored only two centuries in the last five years, as he questioned if any other top-order batter would have survived a similar run in international cricket.
Virat Kohli has scored 126 runs in five innings in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy. He began the series with five in the first innings in Perth and followed it up with an unbeaten 100 in the second innings.The 36-year-old was dismissed for seven and 11 in Adelaide and managed only three in the first innings of The Gabba Test. The latest instance also saw him being dismissed while chasing a ball outside off stump.
Virat Kohli looks fine in nets but is failing to translate the same on the field
In the nets, Virat Kohli seems to be doing no wrong. However, once the match begins, the same old, frustrating pattern of nicking the dreaded outside off-stump balls emerges. With India having to pay the price for the same glaring errors, former India batter Devang Gandhi, who has also coached Delhi’s Ranji Trophy and the Bengal Under-19 teams, reckons the time has come for coaches to take matters into their own hands.
Even in his pomp, Virat Kohli battled this issue but had them under control on most occasions. Even if he didn’t, the fact that he used to pile heaps of runs slid the technical but under the carpet. But, cut to 2024, and with Kohli’s frequency of big scores increasing, every dismissal comes under the scanner.
Head coach Gautam Gambhir and, more importantly, assistant-cum-batting coach Abhishek Nayar must spend time with Virat Kohli and devise a solution for him to get rid of this issue once and for all. Having said that, it won’t be as easy and straightforward as one assumes, given the two have just entered the Indian coaching set-up.
Irrespective of what Gambhir and Nayar want, Gandhi feels they cannot change Virat Kohli’s deep-rooted technique after all these years; hence, the switch needs to come from Virat himself, understanding that at this stage of his career, things that worked for him five years ago, won’t.
Former India opener Devang Gandhi weighs in on Virat Kohli’s batting woes in BGT 2024-25
Former India opener and ex-selector Devang Gandhi has questioned the criticism of head coach Gautam Gambhir and assistant coach Abhishek Nayar amid Virat Kohli’s offside struggles in BGT 2024-25. According to Gandhi, the coaches have honest conversations, but the onus remains on the player to work on his flaws and come up with a solution.
The role of India’s coaches has come under greater scrutiny following a social media post by Sanjay Manjrekar in which he questioned why major technical issues have remained unresolved for so long with certain Indian batters. While Gambhir is the current head coach of the Indian team, former all-rounders Nayar and Ryan ten Doeschate are the assistant coaches.
Speaking to news agency PTI, Gandhi opined that while it would be easy to target someone like Nayar, criticizing him wouldn’t serve any purpose.
“It would be very easy to target Nayar as a low hanging fruit or for that matter Gautam. But they have just come into the system. To discuss or nudge a player, first you need to be around for some time, and once there is some kind of mutual trust between the two, you can offer him solutions. But, at this level, it is more about the experienced player’s own mental make-up,” he explained.
Speaking specifically about Kohli’s woes outside the off stump, the NCA Level-2 coach opined that the growing influence of T20 cricket has had a negative impact on his technique with regard to leaving deliveries outside off stump.
“The moment his bat is away from the body, the bat-face will open up towards cover. Now this is a white ball problem of hitting through the line. In India, the ball will hit the bottom of the bat, but in Australia, it will come towards the upper part (of the bat). What solution can Gambhir or Nayar possibly give, apart from telling him to not play those deliveries,” he added.
The former opener, who played four Tests for India, further pointed out that Kohli has scored 30 Test tons and doesn’t need to be told how to bat. He, however, added that the seasoned batter will have to show greater patience to score big runs and that the best the coaches can do is discuss what can be done. The BGT 2024-25 now focusses itself on the iconic Boxing Day Test with both India and Australia squared up 1-1 and it would be a perfect time for a batter like Virat Kohli to step up and show his class yet again.