Atreyo Mukhopadhyay
He cannot be questioned because of what he has achieved in the past. His ability to bounce back cannot be doubted because of what he has done with the bat in a Test career of nearly 12 years. There can be no argument about his class because of his success against every type of bowling in any condition. His mental strength is enormous, considering the way he has overcome adversities in his illustrious journey in international cricket so far.
In a nutshell, that is Virat Kohli, inarguably the King of Indian cricket during his reign. In a country where cricket is religion, he is the presiding deity. He has runs and centuries in SENA countries, tonnes of runs and double centuries in India. He is the most prolific batter of his generation who has bossed bowlers across formats. There is no doubt that irrespective of how Kohli fares in the remainder of his career, he will remain one of India’s all-time greats and one of the world’s best of his era.
Funnily enough, cricket can sometimes be a cruel game. No matter how magnificently one has done for the greater part of his or her cricketing life, there come times when questions are raised, doubts are cast and the player comes under scrutiny. Each error is dissected under the microscope, mistakes are magnified and widely discussed in the public domain. Having kept such talks away for a very long time, Kohli is finally in that phase which even good players encounter multiple times in their lives.
Statistics show that he has not scored a century in this format in well over three years, since the one against Bangladesh in the first ever day-night Test held in India in November 2019. In his last 15 Test innings, he has not scored a half-century. In this period, there were moments when he looked like banishing these negative talks and turning a new leaf, but eventually failed to live up to the great expectations created by his own performances.
Such talks are intensifying now, with India headed for the crucial fourth and final Test of the Border Gavaskar Trophy. The match to be played in Ahmedabad’s massive Narendra Modi Stadium from Thursday is significant for several reasons. Australia cannot win the series and recapture the rubber, but squaring the series will be a moral victory for them, after getting thrashed in the first two Tests. India’s qualification for the World Test Championship is also partially dependent on the outcome of this game. Most crucially, can Kohli once again be the King? With a lot of things at stake, can he do it for his team and for himself?
To be fair, Kohli cannot be singled out for failing with the bat in a series played in spin-friendly pitches, where batters of both teams struggled to come to terms with the turning ball and the bevy of catchers circling around them all the time. The series has seen just one century so far and it’s difficult to recall the last time when spinners held such an edge over batters over three Tests. Kohli is human and it is unfair to judge him on the basis of the way things have unfolded in this series.
But one cannot be faulted for asking such questions. We are not talking about an ordinary player. Here is a great of his generation looking like a mere mortal and getting out in ways unbecoming of him. He looked a cut above in the first innings in the second Test in Delhi and the first innings of the third in Indore. Both times, he succumbed in anticlimactic fashion. On the first occasion, he failed to read a straight one from left-arm spinner Matt Kuhnemann to be trapped leg before. In the second, he played down the wrong line to off-spinner Todd Murphy to be dismissed in similar fashion. There were a couple of soft dismissals too, in the only innings in the first Test and the second innings of the third.
And that’s what must be bugging the team management and countless Kohli fans. Have the Australian spinners sorted him out? Have they found a formula to outthink him? Can he come out of this slump? Can he once again be the big-match player he is known to be? Millions will be on the tenterhooks until the Ahmedabad Test gets over. He does not have anything to prove, but can he again be himself and lord the bowlers over? Given his experience, pedigree and ability to fight fire with fire, there is every possibility that he will. But until he has, doubts and questions will linger.
In 2017, Kohli had an unproductive series against Australia. In the first three Tests, he made 46 from five innings before missing the last game with an injury. Not much was asked or spoken about then because India won the series. This time, Kohli has aggregated 111 runs from five innings. But unlike in 2017, questions will be asked if India fail to win this series and the former captain does not score big in the last Test. The King’s performance will become national talking point. Even if temporarily, aspersions will be cast over his form, technique and what not. For a moment, his glorious past will take the back seat and the disappointing present will come to the forefront.
Possibly for the first time in a supremely successful career, these uncomfortable questions are being asked of Kohli. His greatness will not be diminished by an inch even if he fails to make a significant contribution in Ahmedabad, but in that case, this series will remain a blotch on what has been a glittering decade or so for him in Test cricket. Great players find ways and devise own methods to come out of trouble. Time will tell if Kohli succeeds in choosing this fourth Test as that platform to silence the murmurs and return to where he belongs, in the pantheon of greats.