Rugby
Cricket
League
Horse Racing
Football
Basketball
Motorsport
Is Virat Kohli really in serious decline? How we’ll learn quickly this summer
Lachlan Geleit • November 18th, 2024 4:14 pm
Virat Kohli loves playing in Australia, but will he be the same batsman that fans have seen down under on previous Test tours?
While the Indian great averages 54.08 from 13 Tests in Australia – where he’s also scored six centuries and four fifties, he’s averaging just 31.69 since 2020 overall and has notched just two tons in that period from 60 knocks.
With his stats clearly on the decline, veteran cricket journalist Robert Craddock thinks that it could be a sign that his skill set is fading.
“In three of the last four years, he's averaged less than 29, that says to me his skill set has faded and he's in serious decline,” Craddock told *SEN Mornings*.
“However, in Australia, he has scored six centuries in 13 Tests. That is an astonishing strike rate.
“One thing he does like in Australia is the ball which comes onto the bat, which a lot of other Indian players don't like.
“The deliberately crafted turning decks in India, that’s really not his go. It’s strange to say, but he doesn’t mind pace on the ball.”
If the 36-year-old still has elite-level batting in him, Craddock thinks we’ll know pretty quickly with what Kohli we see from both a technical and mindset point of view.
“I think we'll know quickly if he's a player in decline and in serious decline - I think we'll know by the second Test,” Craddock said.
“They really, really need him. In his last test against New Zealand, he got run out in the last over of the day going for a suicide single to mid-on. He just hasn't got his head on his shoulders.
“There's a feeling that Kohli is at his worst when he's snatching at it a bit, when he's really getting agitated about not scoring runs.
“When he's calm, relaxed, looks you squarely in the eye and doesn't look away, that’s the Virat to worry about.”
Kohli gets his first chance to silence the doubters when the first Test against Australia begins in Perth on Friday.
While the Indian great averages 54.08 from 13 Tests in Australia – where he’s also scored six centuries and four fifties, he’s averaging just 31.69 since 2020 overall and has notched just two tons in that period from 60 knocks.
With his stats clearly on the decline, veteran cricket journalist Robert Craddock thinks that it could be a sign that his skill set is fading.
“In three of the last four years, he's averaged less than 29, that says to me his skill set has faded and he's in serious decline,” Craddock told *SEN Mornings*.
“However, in Australia, he has scored six centuries in 13 Tests. That is an astonishing strike rate.
“One thing he does like in Australia is the ball which comes onto the bat, which a lot of other Indian players don't like.
“The deliberately crafted turning decks in India, that’s really not his go. It’s strange to say, but he doesn’t mind pace on the ball.”
If the 36-year-old still has elite-level batting in him, Craddock thinks we’ll know pretty quickly with what Kohli we see from both a technical and mindset point of view.
“I think we'll know quickly if he's a player in decline and in serious decline - I think we'll know by the second Test,” Craddock said.
“They really, really need him. In his last test against New Zealand, he got run out in the last over of the day going for a suicide single to mid-on. He just hasn't got his head on his shoulders.
“There's a feeling that Kohli is at his worst when he's snatching at it a bit, when he's really getting agitated about not scoring runs.
“When he's calm, relaxed, looks you squarely in the eye and doesn't look away, that’s the Virat to worry about.”
Kohli gets his first chance to silence the doubters when the first Test against Australia begins in Perth on Friday.
