Thousand day drought: Experts dissect Virat Kohli’s batting woes

Virat Kohli’s 1000-day century drought is a sign of his stasis. Once assertive and sure-footed, he is a maze of doubts in the now. Averaging 27.25 in tests and 25.82 in ODIs since his 136 against Bangladesh, the star captain’s slump rolls into his third year. He still averages 50.47 in T20Is during this period, but in 2022, he’s chalked up only 81 runs in four innings heading into the Asia Cup. As his poor returns nag Indian cricket fans, experts have attempted to dissect the issues plaguing the star batter.

Also Read: Asia Cup 2022: Indian batting SWOT analysis

The player has even alluded to feeling lonely in dressing rooms, often winning ones. Ex-India opener Akash Chopra attributes this to an ‘alternate universe’ in which players cohabit:

“In theory cricket is a team sport, but you are on your own more often than not. While you’re a part of the team’s successes and defeats, you also inhabit an alternative universe of your own performances. And it gets very lonely there,” he writes.

Chopra doesn’t believe the faults are as technical.

“The problem isn’t as grave if you keep getting out for single-digit scores. In those cases you would be able to identify the issue a lot easier. But if you’re getting starts and are committing mistakes much later in the innings (and very often at that), you fail to identify the problem. It’s not the first ball outside off that you’ve nicked but the 70th or the 100th, and that points towards it being more a mental problem. Of course it’s a technical flaw but it’s the mental discipline, or lack of it, that triggers that flawed response.”

Sunil Gavaskar reckons Kohli has issues coping with the off-stump line. A succession of dismissals caught edging behind his stumps seems to reinforce that belief. He even offered his expertise for 20 minutes to sort out his troubles. But he reckons that the ex-India captain has been unlucky during this period, his mistakes more easily punished:

“It goes back to the fact that his first mistake turns out to be his last. Again, just because he is not amongst the runs, there is this anxiety to play at every delivery because that is what batters feel, they have got to score. You look to play at deliveries that you otherwise won’t. But he has gotten out to good deliveries as well on this particular tour,” added Gavaskar.

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Yesteryear batter Chandu Borde, however, suggested he adopt a more gung-ho approach. It is Sir Don Bradman’s advice-no less- passed onto Borde during India’s Australia tour in 1968:

“Jao beta, net mein jao and har ball ko maaro (Go son, go to the nets and give every ball a hit),” quotes IndiaTV.

With The Asia Cup T20s days away, Kohli will look to regain his scoring touch. But if the rut continues, his selection for the October-November T20WorldCup  in Australia isn’t as guaranteed.