Mumbai: Virat Kohli cannot just get among the runs.
Forget a decent score, the former Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Team India captain can’t even get off the mark.
Kohli’s wretched form continued on Saturday as he got out to the first ball he faced for the second time in as many IPL matches.
Walking out to the middle of the Brabourne Stadium after skipper Faf du Plessis had fallen for 5, Kohli straightaway pushed at an outgoing delivery from Sunrisers Hyderabad’s Marco Jansen and edged to Aiden Markram at second slip.
Watch his dismissal here as shared in Twitter:
— Diving Slip (@SlipDiving) April 23, 2022
Three days ago, Kohli had succumbed to the first ball when he cut Lucknow Super Giants’ Dushmantha Chameera straight to Deepak Hooda at backward point.
This is the fifth time that Kohli has fallen for a golden duck in IPL, but never before did he get out first ball in back-to-back innings.
Kohli, who has struggled for runs in international cricket, has scored just 117 runs in 8 innings so far in the ongoing 15th edition of IPL. He averages 17 at a strike rate of 122.6 and is without a fifty this season.
The look on Kohli’s face after he got out said it all. Is it time he took a longish break from the game?
Former Team India coach Ravi Shastri, who worked closely with Kohli for 7 years, certainly feels so.
“Virat Kohli is overcooked. If anyone needs a break, it’s him. Whether it’s 2 months or a month-and-a-half, whether it’s after England (tour) or before that,” Shastri said three days ago after Kohli registered the golden duck against Lucknow.
