Star Indian batter Virat Kohli seems to be going through a lean patch in Test cricket in recent times. His lean run started with the Test series against New Zealand at home and seemed to continue in the series against Australia.
All the Australian pacers exposed his weakness outside off stump making him play a wide outside off delivery. The Indian batter was dismissed eight times looking to play outside off stump.
Kohli scored just 93 runs in the home series against the Kiwis. He averaged 15.50 in that series. Against Australia, in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, he scored 190 runs including a century in the Perth Test. He then struggled big time throughout the rest of the series.
Kohli's recent slump of form looks very similar to his struggles between 2020 to 2022. In that three-year period, Kohli did not score a single Test ton and his average dipped below 20 in 2020.
Speaking To ABP News back in 2022, former Indian skipper Kapil Dev questioned Virat Kohli's form and reputation. He came down on the Indian batting star and even asked him to vacate his place due to lack of form.
"Play in-form players when you have loads of options. You can't just go by reputation, but you have to look for current form. You can be an established player but that doesn't mean that you will be given chances even if you fail five games in a row" Kapil said on Kohli.
"If he isn't performing, you can't continue to keep these boys [youngsters] out. I hope there's a healthy fight for selection, the youngsters should look to outperform Kohli. But Kohli needs to think, 'yes at one point I was a big player, but I need to play like that No. 1 player again'. That's a problem for the team, it's not a bad problem," the Indian legend had gone on to add.
Virat Kohli's Numbers In Tests In 2024
Virat Kohli finally broke his streak of not scoring a century for two years by scoring his maiden T20I ton in the Asia Cup against Afghanistan. He scored an unbeaten 122 off 61 deliveries.
After being in decent form between 2023-2023, Kohli is struggling with another loss of form since 2024. In 10 Test matches last year, he scored just 417 runs at an average of 24.52. In the one Test he played in 2025 in Sydney, he scored 17 and 6.
