Aakash Chopra has pointed out that Virat Kohli has suffered early dismissal returns this year, especially in India’s last two test series against Bangladesh and New Zealand.
He said that opposing teams no longer seem to consider him as a threat when he walks out to bat.
Kohli has amassed only 93 runs in the last six innings with an average of 15.50 in the recently concluded home test series against the Kiwis where the visitors secured a clean sweep victory.
While speaking in a video shared on his YouTube channel, Aakash Chopra said he could not see the aura of invincibility around him.
“Kohli also has just one fifty in 10 innings. If you see other than that, you will find that he left a lot to be desired. In fact, you can see his entire year.”
“He didn’t play the England series. I thought that was a big miss. The last five years’ story is not good and the last 10 innings are not good at all,” he said.
“Kohli, Sachin Tendulkar or Sir Vivian Richards, these players have an aura, that once they come to bat, they would dictate. That sort of aura used to be there when Virat Kohli used to come.”
“When Virat Kohli comes now, it seems like he can be dismissed without any issues. I am not saying that. You can see that from the opposing team’s body language,” Chopra added.
In the year 2024, Virat Kohli scored just 250 runs in 12 test innings across six matches he played with an average of 22.72.
Chopra also noted that Kohli has committed judgement errors lately. “The error of judgment is happening repeatedly. Sometimes a full toss is missed and you take a run after hitting straight to the fielder on another occasion.”
“Sometimes you don’t know that you got an inside edge, and even the outside edge. You don’t take the DRS once and take the second time, and both were wrong,” he said.
He also said that apart from the T20 World Cup final, the batting star had endured a horror year.
“This year, even if you see the T20 World Cup, he was outstanding in the final, he is God’s child, but he didn’t score runs apart from that, and that is a reality. He didn’t score runs on the Sri Lanka tour. So the heart beats fast if you see Kohli’s 2024,” Chopra observed.
Chopra also noted that he never thought that Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli’s batting performance would have a slide.
With the Border Gavaskar Trophy against Australia at stake, the performance of the senior duo will have a major impact on India’s qualification for the WTC finals in London next year.
