NEW DELHI: Virat Kohli’s struggles against spin continue to deepen, as the star India batter faced difficulty negotiating the Indian spin trio during a practice session in the Kanpur nets ahead of the second Test against Bangladesh, set to begin on Friday.
In the second innings of the first Test in Chennai, he was trapped by off-spinner Mehidy Hasan Miraz for 17. This dismissal marked a recurring pattern for Kohli, as it was the 18th instance since 2021 where he fell victim to spin bowlers.
Kohli faced challenges during Wednesday’s practice session in Kanpur.While attempting to play inside-out shots against Ravindra Jadeja, he missed the ball three consecutive times, visibly frustrated with his performance, The Indian Express reported.
However, the most striking moment occurred when Axar Patel managed to clean bowl the master batsman through the gate.
Kohli has experienced a notable decline in his Test ranking, dropping five spots and falling out of the top 10. He is now ranked 12th in the standings.
Kohli’s below par beginning to India’s crucial 10-Test run in the next four months has once again ignited the debate if the batting legend is past his prime, with former Australia spinner Brad Hogg sticking his neck out to say that Kohli can’t get past Sachin Tendulkar’s record.
In a YouTube video, Hogg compared Tendulkar’s tally of Test runs to Kohli and star England batsman Joe Root, saying that only Root is in with a fair shout to break the world record of 15,921 runs that Tendulkar scored in his 200-Test career. Kohli, he reckoned, has lost momentum.
The 33-year-old Root, with 12,402 runs so far in 146 Tests, is 3519 runs behind Tendulkar. Kohli, who will turn 36 in November, has 8871 runs in 114 Tests.
“I just don’t think Virat is going to get there,” said Hogg. “I think he’s lost his momentum, and the momentum that he’s lost has been for a number of years now. He’s got to turn around in the next 10 Test matches, or he’s going to drop off.”
