Virat Kohli is synonymous with hope. He carries the aspirations of Indian cricket fans, and justifiably so. All through his career, he has taken on challenges and overcome them. That’s where the expectations come from. You don’t expect him to make the same mistakes over and over again, and that’s why fans have tended to get frustrated and upset on this tour. In Australia, Kohli has time and again let his ego take over. It is as if Australia know where to bowl to him. They know he will not be able to resist the temptation and will inevitably play a false shot. And each time, he has stepped into the trap and lost his wicket.
The disappointment is becoming routine. You know the mistake is round the corner. That’s where it starts to get painful. He lets muscle memory take over and plays the cover drive when he isn’t ready to play it at the start of an innings.
Before the ‘Viratians’ jump on me and ask why am I not talking about Rohit Sharma’s horror run, let me clarify that this isn’t a piece about India’s captain. That Rohit has failed is a undisputed fact. In Australia, he has been very ordinary both as batter and captain. Make no mistake, Rohit needs to take responsibility or call time.
Coming back to Kohli, it is not as if he isn’t looking the part. In the first innings in Melbourne, for example, he did look solid. The first mistake he made, he was out. Now, as the team travel to Sydney for what is a huge Test match – India can still retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy and put immense pressure on Australia to win in Sri Lanka – Kohli would do well to watch what Sachin Tendulkar, his boyhood hero, did in 2004. Just don’t play the cover drive. Don’t play the expansive shot outside the off stump at a time when it is a weakness and not a strength.
You must be logged in to post a comment.