Team India captain Virat Kohli has had an extended phase of poor form. He has not scored a century for almost two years and has struggled in Test matches. The batsman averages in the mid-20s since 2020 and has been one of the major causes of frequent middle order collapses the Team India has suffered.
Kohli has scored only 124 runs in five innings at an average of 24.80 with just one half-century in the ongoing five-match Test series against England. India captain has chased balls outside off-stump consistently and edged the ball to the wicketkeeper or the slips in all five innings.
Former India batsman and Domestic cricket legend Wasim Jaffer said that even though Kohli scored a fifty in the previous Test in Leeds, people expect more from him. He explained why Virat Kohli has struggled in England.
"Virat got a half-century but we expect a lot more because he's a quality player, a class player. He probably needs to rethink the pattern of his dismissals in this series, he's defending deliveries on the 6th or 7th stump. The batting discipline he showed in 2018 is missing in this series," Jaffer said on his YouTube channel.
The former opener added that Team India needs Kohli to fire if they are to do well in the final two Tests. "He needs to fire in these remaining Tests because his contribution is very, very important for this Indian team," he further said.
Kohli’s poor run of form has also impacted his rankings in the latest update of the ICC Test batsmen rankings as he slipped down one spot to 6 as teammate and opener Rohit Sharma, who has had a decent run of form has moved to the fifth spot and into the top five Test batters.
The fourth Test between England and India will begin on 2 September at The Oval.
