Sydney: There is a famous saying in Hindi, ‘The hunter will come… will set a trap, but don’t get trapped in that trap.’ But with Team India’s star batsman Virat Kohli, exactly the opposite is happening at the moment. The hunter is coming, laying the same net again and again and they are easily getting trapped in it. Yes, new year, but same old story. Tampering with the ball outside the off stump and Virat Kohli is out. Kohli was consistently out with the same formula in the Border Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25. There was no need for the Australian team management to make any different plans for them in the 5-match Test series.
It is not that this has not happened with Virat Kohli before. Remember the 2014 England tour when he was seen dancing in front of James Anderson’s balls. This weakness of his was exposed in front of the world. But, in the same year, India toured Australia and Kohli created a sensation by scoring 4 centuries in the 4-match Test series. Before this series, Virat Kohli’s record in Australia was excellent, but now there is a stain on him which is very difficult for him to erase.
There is no doubt that in Test cricket, batsmen struggle with the ball going outside the off stump, but the question is how often? If you fall into this trap 8 times in a 5-match series and your name is Virat Kohli, then it is a matter of great concern. Apart from the century he scored in the second innings of Perth, it never seemed in this series that Virat Kohli was not struggling. The ball outside the off stump is proving to be a disaster for him. Australian fast bowler Scott Boland trapped him in the same trap for the 5th time in this series.
Why would comparison with Sachin be dishonest?
There is no doubt that Virat Kohli is a great batsman. His contribution to Indian cricket can never be forgotten. This is the reason why he is compared with Sachin Tendulkar, who is called ‘God of Cricket’, but is the comparison correct? If we look at what Virat Kohli has done in the series against Australia, then absolutely not.
It is not that runs are not coming from his bat that is why we are saying this. It’s not about the form, it’s about the way of getting out and putting the same mistake in repeat mode. In 2003, Sachin Tendulkar was also going through bad form. He was getting out on the ball going outside the off stump. Then in the Sydney Test he took a vow not to touch balls outside the off stump, abandoning his favorite cover drive in that innings. The great Sachin Tendulkar scored an unbeaten 241 runs. Like Sachin, Virat Kohli is hungry for runs, but after facing drought of runs, he is continuously getting defeated in recognizing his mistake and coming out of it. In the Test series against Australia, Virat Kohli has scored only 190 runs in 9 innings at an average of 23.75. Leaving aside Perth’s century, his bat scored 90 runs in 8 innings.
