For a man who seemed unstoppable even two years ago, Virat Kohli's luck with the bat is completely incomprehensible.
The world's number one batsman, who collected hundreds at will, has not scored one hundred in all three formats in 50 innings. India's captain Virat Kohli's fight continue as he was dismissed in the first hour of the first day of 3rd Test against England at Headingley in Leeds. James Anderson sent Kohli back to the pavilion for 7.
Lean patches are part of a cricketer's journey. There are likely to be peaks and valleys in performance as the career runs. Every great in the game has had their share of dips and Kohli is undoubtedly facing headwinds after fixing the loopholes in 2014.
But it looks like the old habit of dangling the bat outside the off-stump seems to be back and Kohli not for the first time in England, got out swishing at a ball a could have been left alone. This was the fourth time in the series that he had edged the ball behind the stumps.
Most dismissals for Kohli against a bowler in Tests
James Anderson - 7 times in 23 matches
Nathan Lyon - 7 times in 18 matches
Stuart Broad - 5 times in 18 matches
Moeen Ali - 5 times in 15 matches
Ben Stokes - 5 times in 15 matches
Kohli's lean patch began with the 2020 Tour in New Zealand, where he managed 218 runs in four T20Is, three ODI matches and two test matches. In the only Test he played in Australia late last year, his defiant 74 in the first innings was lost in the ruins of the disastrous second innings of the pink-ball Test where India were gobbled up for 36. It was an out of character show from the India captain who spent 244 minutes at the crease for his 180-ball effort. It was also his second slowest half-century.
A similar kind of effort would have helped the India cause at Headingley had kohli played the waiting game. With KL Rahul and Cheteshwar Pujara back in the shade. Kohli made the appropriate noises on the eve of the Test by saying "You have to keep your ego in your pocket while batting in England".
In his pre & post match discourses , Kohli avoids talking about the individual players form. "Our focus is not thinking about where people are individually now. It's collectively about how much strength they bring to the team. As a batting unit, we look to perform in tough conditions, so we are in a winning positions and someone is going to put their hands in every game." Kohli has maintained when asked about the Pujara and Rahane's ordeals.
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