Simon Katich, the former head coach of the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), said that star batsman Virat Kohli damaged his exceptional reputation by giving him a forgettable Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia. Despite his stellar record in Australia, Kohli struggled as a batter and in other ways throughout the majority of the tour, despite the high expectations going into the five-Test series.
After a hundred in the second innings of the first test match, Virat Kohli had a series to forget down under. He kept getting out outside off stump knicking the ball to the slips regularly. Australians exposed his vulnerability in that area in almost every innings as they kept bowling him in that line.
His scores in this series were very below par. Although he looked comfortable on the wicket on a number of occasions but he failed to capitalize on it. Virat Kohli was also among controversies and on-field battles with the Aussie players and fans. His shoulder barged against Sam Konstas, mocking Aussie fans when they booed him.
“Virat Kohli Tarnished His Reputation” – Simon Katich
Talking about Kohli’s horrific tour of Australia on the Around the Wicket podcast, Katich said [via Wisden]:
“There’s no doubt he (Kohli) has been a modern great of the game in all formats. But I think you have to question what sort of headspace he’s been in on this tour to be doing that, making physical contact in Melbourne and then even the other unsavoury incident in Sydney with the sandpaper reference there with the pockets. I mean that in itself – there was no need for that. It’s old news so in a way I think he’s tarnished his reputation somewhat on this tour, on and off the field.”
India lost the series 1-3 and gave up the Border-Gavaskar Trophy to Australia for the first time since 2014–15 as a result of Kohli’s dismal visit. His future in the Indian Test team was called into question after he failed greatly in the previous series against New Zealand, averaging less than 16 in three games.
Aaron Finch, a former RCB colleague of Virat Kohli, shared Simon Katich’s comments, believing that Kohli’s lack of output drove him to engage in various on-field antics. The champion batter’s average in Test matches in Australia was well over 50 when he arrived, but it dropped to less than 47 when he left.
“It was just a level of frustration. I said last week it seemed as though he wanted to find conflict and confrontation – that’s where he generally plays his best cricket. So he just went overboard on this tour. The bump, that was above and beyond anything I’ve seen on a field, and then the sandpaper, unnecessary. But overall, I think he was trying to find something to ignite a fire in himself, but just wasn’t up to it,” said Finch (via Wisden).
It would be interesting to see if Virat Kohli can return to his peak form before India’s next Test match, a five-match series in England, only takes place in June. Since the beginning of the decade, the veteran has only amassed three hundreds in 39 Test matches.
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