Virat Kohli is out. Cheaply. Again. The master of India’s semi-final, endured a rare failure in an ICC knockout game, getting dismissed for nine against England in Guyana. Kohli looked scratchy, unassured, and absolutely in no control, continuing his barren run in the ongoing T20 World Cup. Kohli was scoring at a run-a-ball before getting castled by England’s Reece Topley. The sound of timber was met with stunned silence as India once again lost their first wicket quickly as Kohli made a long way back to the pavilion.
On a surface that stayed low and was two-paced, Kohli struggled. The six he creamed off Topley, a pick-up shot over cow corner, felt like he was starting to get used to it. But going for a repeat the very next ball, the ball crashed onto Kohli’s leg stump. Immediately he missed putting bat to ball, Kohli was upset as he practiced it again. But if there’s any scope of improvement, it can only be implemented in the next game, provided India get through.
However, the biggest takeaway were the visuals emerging from the dressing room. Sitting between Jasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja, Kohli cut a dejected figure before he was approached by Rahul Dravid. The outgoing India head coach rested his hand on Kohli’s knee in consolation. Kohli will indeed be disappointed. This is now what the world has gotten used to seeing of him, and definitely not in ICC tournaments. He was India’s highest run-scorer in the 2014, 2016 and 2022 editions of the T20 World Cups and, more recently, in last year’s 50-overs World Cup as well. But seeing Kohli look like a fish out of water is just sad and heartbreaking.
Watch the clip below:
This is Kohli’s fifth single-digit score of the tournament. He was dismissed for 1 against Ireland, 4 against Pakistan, and two ducks against the USA and Australia. Even against Afghanistan, Kohli again looked far from his free-flowing best, scoring 24 off 24. His only innings of conviction came against Bangladesh, where he hit 37 off 28 balls. Still, the ‘this is it’ factor was missing.
All is not lost though
But while Kohli fans are left absolutely devastated seeing their KING perish cheaply, Rohit Sharma has kept India going on probably the toughest pitch India have batted on this World Cup. The India captain was batting on 37 off 26 balls to take India to 65/2 in 8 overs before rain caused another interruption. India were dealt another blow in the form of Rishabh Pant, getting out for 4 off 6, but Suryakumar Yadav’s promising start – unbeaten on 13 off 7 – will calm the team’s collective nerves.
During his innings, Rohit brought up 5000 runs as captain in international cricket. He ensured that despite India’s edgy start, boundaries kept coming. With six fours, Rohit kept India’s scorecard ticking and their intent could be gauged by the fact that on a much more difficult pitch, India finished the Powerplay with 46 runs, eight more than what they scored in Adelaide 2022.
