In four innings against New Zealand in the ongoing home Test series, Virat Kohli has scored just 88 runs — 70 of which came in one innings alone. The statistic highlights his continued struggle in the red-ball format, leading to advice from his former teammate Dinesh Karthik.
“What he needs to do is probably go back to domestic cricket,” said Karthik while talking on a Cricbuzz show.
India lost the first two Tests against the Kiwis to concede the series, and now stare at the embarrassing prospect of a rare whitewash on home soil.
(BCCI Photo)
New Zealand defeated the hosts by 113 runs in Pune to confirm a historic maiden Test series victory in India. Kohli was snared by left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner in both the innings for scores of 1 and 17.
“There is no doubt the left-arm spinners pose a big threat,” said the former stumper Karthik, who announced his retirement earlier this year. “Virat Kohli has not had it easy. The series has not been good to him; (in) three out of four innings he has disappointed. It’s obviously a recurring pattern where spinners have troubled him, and I think he will go and figure out what he needs to do to come out stronger.”
“He is a man who is searching for answers. When you reach that level of genius and super stardom, you will be thrown challenges and here is another challenge. India likes to play on pitches that aid spin, what is his gameplan?” Karthik added.
(BCCI Photo)
It was a disastrous batting performance from India, with opener Yashasvi Jaiswal’s attacking 77 in the second innings the top score and the lone half-century in the game for the fancied hosts.
India were bowled out for 156 in the first innings and for 245 in the second. Captain Rohit Sharma also had a poor game with scores of 0 and 8.
Talking about Kohli, Karthik suggested that the batting icon needs to work on his game against the spinners, while his Test graph in recent times continues to plummet.
(AFP Photo)
“We all know what he is capable of; this series was not meant to be. Like the fans have been saying, he has not done it for a long time and that we cannot run away from. We don’t want to sugarcoat it because we want to be as objective in assessing any player, any performance…Virat Kohli’s Test record in the last 2-3 years has not been great against spin,” said Karthik.
The third and final Test of the series begins in Mumbai on November 1.