Virat Kohli, who celebrates his 36th birthday today (November 5), no longer has the aura that used to intimidate opponents the way Vivian Richards and Sachin Tendulkar did when they walked in to bat, feels former India batsman Akaash Chopra.
Kohli’s poor run this year extended to the two-Test series against Bangladesh and the three Tests against New Zealand after that. He scored 99 runs in four innings against Bangladesh and 93 runs in the six innings against the Kiwis.
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“Kohli also has just one fifty in 10 (Test) innings. If you see other than that, you will find that he left a lot to be desired. In fact, you can see his entire year. He didn’t play the England (Test) series. I thought that was a big miss. The last five years’ story is not good and the last 10 innings are not good at all,” said Chopra on his YouTube channel.
Chopra felt that Kohli’s presence on the pitch lately has not worried opposition teams, which can be gauged by their body language.
“Kohli, Sachin Tendulkar or Sir Vivian Richards, these players have an aura, that once they come to bat, they would dictate. That sort of aura used to be there when Kohli used to come in. When Kohli comes in now, it seems like he can be dismissed without any issues. I am not saying that. You can see that from the opposing team’s body language,” said the former opening batsman, who now does commentary as an expert.
“The error of judgement is happening repeatedly. Sometimes a full toss is missed and you take a run after hitting straight to the fielder on another occasion. Sometimes you don’t know that you got an inside edge, and even the outside edge. You don’t take the DRS once and take the second time, and both were wrong,” he said.
The highlight of the year for Kohli remains the half-century he scored in the T20 World Cup final earlier this year in June, which helped India beat South Africa to win the trophy.
“This year, even if you see the T20 World Cup, he was outstanding in the final, he is God’s child, but he didn’t score runs apart from that, and that is a reality. He didn’t score runs on the Sri Lanka tour. So the heart beats fast if you see Kohli’s 2024,” Chopra concluded.
