Kohli’s peak was massive enough to keep him in the side despite such a major slump, and the team still sees him as a match-winner.
Virat Kohli’s lean patch is beyond expectations in Test cricket, and he hasn’t been at his best for five years now. There have been a few quality knocks in the middle, but Kohli has overall been mediocre, and his numbers have been below-par.
A user on social media platform X (formerly Twitter) analysed Kohli’s extended slump and ranked him with batters with the biggest slump in their careers. He excluded players whose average is below 35 and who scored fewer than 1000 runs in Test cricket.
The graphic shows Kohli’s slump is the sixth-worst among batters in the given criteria, with an average difference of 22.71. Before the slump, he averaged a whopping 55.20, but since the slump started in 2019, he has an average of 32.49, with the slump lasting for 68 innings and going.
No other Indian batter had such a drastic slump in Test cricket, and Cheteshwar Pujara is next on the list, with a difference of 19.49. Kohli’s peak was massive enough to keep him in the side despite such a major slump, and the team still sees him as a match-winner.
Virat Kohli’s familiar issues continue in the Border Gavaskar Trophy
Virat Kohli has a major chink in his armour, and every team knows it. He tries to chase deliveries outside the off-stump line without any significant foot movement and has shown a similar pattern in almost every game.
Even in the ongoing Border Gavaskar Trophy, Kohli has chased deliveries outside the off-stump line, including the one against Josh Hazlewood in the Brisbane Test. So, teams don’t need to plan too much nowadays and can simply stick to bowling outside the off-stump line, and he nicks one early in his innings.
When Kohli was at his peak, he used to curb his instincts and leave deliveries outside the off-stump line; even while playing them, he used to come close to the ball. But now he just chases them away from his body.
He has played only one good knock for India in the ongoing series against Australia, but the team expected more from him. If he continues chasing deliveries, that slump will extend further.
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