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Opinion
Questioning Virat Kohli is a crime punishable by deportation in India but there’s a very real possibility that he could be the weak link in India’s batting line-up against Australia.
The 34-year-old superstar is entering the four-match Border-Gavaskar Trophy showdown on Thursday on the back of the worst stretch in his Test career.
He hasn’t hit a hundred since belting 136 against Bangladesh at Eden Gardens at the end of 2019 and since that innings he has eked out a paltry 917 runs from 36 trips to the crease at an average of just 26.2.
In his previous 84 Tests he established himself alongside Steve Smith and Kane Williamson as the world’s pre-eminent batters with 27 hundreds while making 7202 runs at 54.97, more than double his recent clip.
His century drought wasn’t confined to Test cricket either – he went more than 1000 days without a triple-figure score in all three international formats but the aftermath to that drought is an indication why Australia will never take him lightly.
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He had never gone a calendar year, let alone three without a ton since he played four matches in 2011 when he first broke into the team. As far as matches go, the 20 most-recent Tests is 13 more than his previous worst dry spell.
Kohli returned to his imperial best with a scorching 122 off 61 balls in a T20 match against Afghanistan in September and was then the start of the World Cup in Australia as he made bowling attacks look second rate on the way to earning player of the tournament honours.
(Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)
If he breaks out of his Test funk when the series begins in Nagpur on Thursday, then Australia’s hopes of overcoming the odds to win their first series since 2004 will blow out even further.
But if he continues to struggle, will the Indian selectors in the not-too-distant future have the gumption to make the call to drop a demigod?
Kohli has been forcing Australian fielders to chase leather for more than a decade since announcing his status as a superstar of the future at Adelaide on the 2011-12 tour with 116 as his high-profile teammates fell cheaply all around him.
Despite averaging 48.05 in 20 Tests against the baggy green brigade and 48.9 from 8119 runs in his overall career, he has been rocks and diamonds on home soil against the Aussies.
In the 2013 clean sweep, he was a key part of India’s success, hitting 284 runs at 56.8, including a crucial 107 to help rescue the hosts after early trouble in the opening Test.
But when the Aussies returned four years later, he was all at sea, cobbling together a paltry 46 runs at an embarrassing 9.2.
Unfortunately for the touring team’s brains trust this time around, it appears it was simply a rare form slump for Kohli.
There was no consistent theme among his dismissals, he was caught twice, bowled once and trapped in front the other two times and the successful bowler was never the same with Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Steve O’Keefe claiming his scalp.
But don’t be surprised to see Cummins bring himself into the attack whenever Kohli emerges from the dressing room.
The Australian captain has the best strike rate in world cricket when it comes to dismissing Kohli from any bowler who has claimed his wicket three times or more. Cummins has emerged triumphant in their head-to-head battle five times in six Tests
And he should pack a slips cordon from ball one, too.
Four of the five dismissals were derived from the outside edge of his bat, presenting chances to second slip or gully – the only other occasion was a flick to leg gully which was snaffled by Marcus Harris at the MCG in 2018.
Kohli is all but certain to line up in his customary No.4 spot in the order for the series opener after openers Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul, with Cheteshwar Pujara at first drop.
All of their top four batters are considerably more comfortable on home soil when you compare their record in India against their overall career numbers.
Sharma averages a ridiculous 73.33 from 20 Tests in India – overseas, the skipper manages just 31.29 per dismissal from 47 innings.
| Test career | Vs Australia | In India | Vs Aus in India | |
| Virat Kohli | 8119 runs at 48.9 | 1682 at 48.05 | 3847 at 61.06 | 330 at 33 |
| Rohit Sharma | 3137 at 46.13 | 408 at 31.38 | 1760 at 73.33 | 408 at 31.38 |
| KL Rahul | 2604 at 34.26 | 580 at 38.66 | 885 at 44.25 | 393 at 65.5 |
| Cheteshwar Pujara | 7014 at 44.39 | 1893 at 54.08 | 3699 at 54.39 | 900 at 64.28 |
| Shubman Gill | 736 at 32 | 259 at 51.8 | 263 at 26.3 | Has not played |
| Shreyas Iyer | 624 at 56.72 | Has not played | 388 at 55.42 | Has not played |
| Ravindra Jadeja | 2523 at 36.56 | 387 at 29.76 | 1457 at 41.62 | 212 at 23.55 |
India have been forced to make a couple of changes in the middle order with Shreyas Iyer out with a minor back injury and wicketkeeper Risabh Pant lucky to be alive after his recent high-speed car accident which is expected to keep him away from cricket until next year.
Shubman Gill and T20’s most explosive hitter, Suryakumar Yadav, are the candidates to follow Kohli in the line-up while Ishan Kishan is believed to be ahead of KS Bharat in the race to fill Pant’s gloves.
Gill, who has played 13 matches and set up the famous win at the Gabba in 2021 with 91 in the second innings, is the only player among the quartet with Test experience so he is the frontrunner for the No.5 spot. Iyer is confident of being back for the second Test next Friday in Delhi.
Playing an uncapped keeper at six is a slight gamble but returning all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja (2523 runs at 36.56 with three centuries) and Ravi Ashwin (3043 runs at 27.41 with five centuries) will ensure there will be no concerns about the lower order folding.