Is the bad phase continuing? Keep calm and focus on your work, try to change the situation. This philosophy is what most players follow.
Virat Kohli is probably not one of those players. A little provocation, and he gets worked up. Sometimes, even when no one provokes him, he gets agitated and spreads that excitement to others.
Take the recent Border-Gavaskar Trophy, for instance. It was a tough series for India, and for one of the best batsmen in contemporary cricket. Kohli has been struggling for a while now.
However, the series started with a sign of Kohli regaining his form. In the first Test in Perth, he scored an unbeaten century, ending a 16-month century drought in this format.
But after that, he lost his rhythm again. In the next 8 innings, he didn’t score a single fifty. In those innings, he got out to deliveries outside the off-stump, often caught by the keeper or in the slip. Sometimes, he even chased outside balls recklessly. Despite a century, Kohli scored only 190 runs in the series, with an average of 23.75, marking his worst series in Australia across five tours.
In such times, there’s a lot of pressure. There’s the pressure to find his form again, and the pressure of hearing various things on and off the field. One has to handle it all with a cool mind. Kohli, unfortunately, faltered here.
On the first day of the Melbourne Test, he unnecessarily pushed Australian young opener Sam Constas. For this, he was later penalized.
In the same Test, Kohli’s mistake led to the run-out of his partner, the well-performing Yashasvi Jaiswal. Later, when Kohli got out and walked back to the dressing room, he was booed by the crowd. Unable to keep his cool, Kohli entered the dressing room tunnel, only to come back out and engage with the crowd.
In Sydney, he couldn’t control his emotions when sledged by the crowd. On the field, he dragged his pajamas and put his hands in his pockets, reminding the Australian fans of the infamous “sandpaper-gate” incident involving Smith and Warner.
Had Kohli been in form with the bat, many of these incidents might have been overshadowed. But with his form slipping, questions are being raised about his behavior. Even Sunil Gavaskar, a cricket legend who is usually seen defending Indian players, seemed a bit irritated with Kohli’s actions. In a column for the Sydney Morning Herald, Gavaskar advised Kohli to be more restrained.
Regarding the incident with Constas, Gavaskar stated, “What Kohli did, pushing Constas with his shoulder, is not cricket at all. Indian players do respond when provoked, but in this case, there was no provocation.”
Gavaskar also pointed out that Kohli’s responses to the crowd only harmed himself and the Indian team, saying, “What players learn from experience is that responding to the crowd is pointless. Fans taunt players for their own entertainment, and it’s never personal. Reacting to them doesn’t help the player, it only worsens the situation. Kohli should understand that responding to the crowd puts more pressure on his teammates, making them targets too.”
Apart from that, Kohli’s repeated dismissals in similar ways throughout the series were also criticized by Gavaskar. “He failed repeatedly to avoid poking at deliveries outside the off-stump. As a result, he couldn’t contribute significantly to the team’s total runs.”
It wasn’t just Kohli; Rohit Sharma, too, had a disappointing series. Due to personal reasons, he missed the first Test, and in the next three Tests, he managed only 31 runs. Due to poor form, he withdrew from the final Test in Sydney.
Gavaskar mentioned that if both Kohli and Rohit are dropped from India’s Test team, it wouldn’t be a huge surprise. “After making a brave decision to pull out of the Sydney Test, questions have been raised about Rohit’s future in Test cricket. India failed to reach the World Test Championship final, and with the next Test Championship cycle starting with the England tour in June, selectors might look for players who could feature in the 2027 final. If they make such a bold decision, it won’t be a shock.”
