Virat Kohli’s string of ducks a worry for India

Kohli, struggling to get off the mark after four balls in the first T20 International, tried to muscle an Adil Rashid leg-spinner over the 30-yard circle only to be caught by Chris Jordan for a five-ball duck

Ahmedabad: India skipper Virat Kohli was on Friday dismissed for a duck for the third time in his last five innings against England.

Kohli, struggling to get off the mark after four balls in the first T20 International, tried to muscle an Adil Rashid leg-spinner over the 30-yard circle only to be caught by Chris Jordan for a five-ball duck.

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This followed a duck in India’s only innings in the fourth and final Test in which he was removed by Ben Stokes and a duck in the first innings of the second Test in Chennai. He made a fighting 62 in the second innings of the second Test and 27 in the only innings of the pink-ball Test against England.

“Kohli is obviously a dangerous batter and to see the back of him early so many times is a real bonus. I think it probably might have dampened their camp a little bit,” pace bowler Jofra Archer, who was man-of-the-match in the first T20I, told the media in an interaction.

Kohli’s dismissal on Friday pushed India into a difficult position, at two wickets down for three runs. It was a position from where they could never recover to post a competitive total.
Asked about his inability to get a big score in the last few innings, Kohli said after Friday’s match, “It is part of the whole journey in international cricket. If we play long enough, we will have ups and downs and you have to accept that as a batsman.”

The 32-year-old India batsman said that he will continue to bat with intent and stick to his plans as a batsman.

“On your day, you will probably end up scoring more. Important thing is to stay true to your intent, to your plans as a batsman. Accept as batsman that as a bowling team, they will come out and [sometimes] execute their plans better than your plans. For me, it has always been about going out there and trying to be as positive as I can,” said Kohli.

Kohli had batted well through the T20I and ODI series in Australia and followed it up with a 74 in the pink-ball Adelaide Test against Australia.

Poor form

0 vs England in 1st T20
0 vs England in 4th Test
27 vs England in 3rd Test
62 vs England in 2nd Test
0 vs England in 2nd Test
72 vs England in 1st Test
11 vs England in 1st Test
74 vs Australia in 1st Test
4 vs Australia in 1st Test