The former captain of Team India has had a rough time in the ongoing Test series against Australia. He has been great in white-ball cricket over the past few months, especially in T20Is, but he hasn’t been as good in red-ball cricket.
Kohli’s scores of 12, 44, 20, 22, and 13 in the first three home games of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2023 against Australia were disappointing. He hasn’t looked all that good out in the middle. As a result, the batter, 34, continues to wait for three figures in Test matches. Since November 2019, when he scored one against Bangladesh at Kolkata’s Eden Gardens, he has not scored a hundred in red-ball cricket.
Kohli has been dissatisfied with his field catching as well as with the willow. He dropped Steve Smith at slip off Axar Patel’s bowling in the first innings of the first Test in Nagpur. He didn’t react quickly when Peter Handscomb hit a shot off Ravindra Jadeja later in the innings. Kohli was not alert enough to take the rebound after the ball deflected off the gloves of the goalkeeper.
India should be concerned because the star cricketer’s difficulties on the field are becoming somewhat excessively frequent lately. We revisited three previous instances in which Kohli let India down with his fielding in light of his struggles with the bat in the current series.
#1 India vs Bangladesh 2022 Dhaka Test
During the second innings of the second Test against Bangladesh at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Dhaka, Kohli had a rough time in the slips. The 34-year-old missed three chances and twice gave Litton Das, a dangerous player, a break.
Axar got Das to push a ball that was spinning away with an open face in the 44th over of Bangladesh’s second innings. In the end, the batter edged the delivery toward the slip area. Kohli, on the other hand, was off-guard. India missed a significant opportunity to send back Das when he moved to his right and the edge flew past his left.
After a few overs, the left-arm spinner Axar was able to get another edge, this time from Nurul Hasan’s defensive stroke. The ball deflected off the glove of the keeper and turned away from the Bangladesh batter. As the ball moved in the opposite direction, Kohli, who was standing at first slip, started moving to his right once more.
Kohli missed a second opportunity to make amends. Off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin bowled a faster delivery to induce an outside edge off Das on the first ball of the 59th over. In this instance, Kohli was correct in his move. He had to move to the right, which he did. The fielder made an unsuccessful attempt at a one-handed catch. To compound an already painful situation, the single additionally raised Das’ 50 years.
In the end, Bangladesh was bowled out for 231 in their second innings, leaving India with only 145 to reach. After falling to 74/7, India escaped by three wickets and made it home. Overall, Kohli’s performance was so forgettable that he was run out for 24 and 1.
#2 India vs South Africa in the T20 World Cup 2022 match in Perth
Kohli made a straightforward catch of Aiden Markram in India’s match in Perth against South Africa. In the wake of being held to 133/9 subsequent to winning the throw and batting first, Group India’s pacers kept the group in the chase, lessening the Proteas to 24/3 inside the powerplay.
Markram and David Miller led South Africa’s comeback, but India remained in the game. The Men in Blue had a great chance to break the partnership and put more pressure on the batting side in the 12th over of the innings. Markram caught Ashwin’s short delivery deep to midwicket, where Kohli created the simplest chance.
India paid a high price for the drop, and South Africa gained momentum as a result. Miller (59*) and Markram (52 runs each) added 76 runs for the fourth wicket to propel the chasing team to victory. With five wickets remaining, the Proteas reached their target in 19.4 overs.
#3 India Vs New Zealand 2014 Wellington test
The 2014 Wellington Test between India and New Zealand is remembered for Brendon McCullum’s jaw-dropping 302 run as skipper of the Kiwis at the time. However, if Kohli had taken the triple centuryr’s catch when he was on nine, the outcome might have been very different.
McCullum drove Mohammed Shami’s fuller delivery in the 29th over of New Zealand’s second innings, but he didn’t get to the ball. Consequently, it moved in the direction of silly midfield, where Kohli was stationed. However, the fielder dropped the catch after grabbing the ball with his left hand.
After India posted 438 in response to the Kiwis’ 192 in the first innings, New Zealand were 78/3 in the second innings and in serious trouble. However, McCullum went on to score 302 from 559 balls. New Zealand won the Test after declaring on 680/8d.
Kohli got some consolation when he scored a hundred in the second inning.