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Virat Kohli's Test form - A cause for concern?

Cricfan4eva

Cricfan4eva

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Everyone is raving about Kohli's captaincy and India's test form. But what that has covered is Kohli's recent form. He started the season brilliantly with his first double century albeit on a placid track but ever since then, even on good tracks he's got out quite cheaply.

His stats in 2016 aren't bad by any means

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but take away that 200. And he has just 78 runs in 5 innings at an average of 15.6, small sample size but he is either due a big one in the next test or it could be a start of slump.

Anyone notice anything going wrong in his game or it is just a lull?
 
He needs to be more Indian and calm down. No need to try and emulate Afridi's attitude. :afridi :kohli
 
He'e getting impatient when playing too many dots and trying for shots. Needs to be more patient and take those 1's and 2's on offer.

Technically I didn't find any fault in his previous few dismissals.
 
He is a player who likes to feel the ball with his bat constantly especially at the start to get his innings going. He needs to learn the art of leaving the balls and be patient for the bad balls.

One stark difference between Kohli and Tendulkar is that the former is a percentage shots player. Kohli has his areas where he is incredibly strong (like the flick through midwicket, cover drive, lofted cover drive, pull shot, etc.) and likes to play those shots often. You won't see him playing too many less percentage or risky shots. Sachin used to play all the shots plus a few other which Kohli plays rarely (the hook shot, upper cut, the backfoot cover drive, etc.). In fact, Kohli said he usually doesn't prefer the sweep shot and started developing it only before the Aus 2014 tour (played it to good effect at Adelaide).

You also very rarely see Kohli play the backfoot punch to the covers, which Sachin was a master at (Root plays it very well among the current ones). I think he needs to develop that shot particularly because he tries to play rising balls from the good length on the front foot and he ends up nicking it to the keeper or the slips cordon. He needs to start playing those off the backfoot through the covers and leave the good ones alone. Otherwise he will always find it difficult in venues like Brisbane, Manchester, etc. I think he will do well in the home season, but he has a fair bit to go to matching Sachin's levels in the longer format.
 
street cricketer said:
He is a player who likes to feel the ball with his bat constantly especially at the start to get his innings going. He needs to learn the art of leaving the balls and be patient for the bad balls.

One stark difference between Kohli and Tendulkar is that the former is a percentage shots player. Kohli has his areas where he is incredibly strong (like the flick through midwicket, cover drive, lofted cover drive, pull shot, etc.) and likes to play those shots often. You won't see him playing too many less percentage or risky shots. Sachin used to play all the shots plus a few other which Kohli plays rarely (the hook shot, upper cut, the backfoot cover drive, etc.). In fact, Kohli said he usually doesn't prefer the sweep shot and started developing it only before the Aus 2014 tour (played it to good effect at Adelaide).

You also very rarely see Kohli play the backfoot punch to the covers, which Sachin was a master at (Root plays it very well among the current ones). I think he needs to develop that shot particularly because he tries to play rising balls from the good length on the front foot and he ends up nicking it to the keeper or the slips cordon. He needs to start playing those off the backfoot through the covers and leave the good ones alone. Otherwise he will always find it difficult in venues like Brisbane, Manchester, etc. I think he will do well in the home season, but he has a fair bit to go to matching Sachin's levels in the longer format.
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That's some good analysis.

but what you point out in the bold, I have seen him do it with ease in away conditions twice and both the times he went onto to score big. In Johannesburg, although the track didn't have much to offer, it still had good bounce and Steyn factor. Kohli showed great patience and left some really good balls.

Maybe too much LOI cricket this year has forced some bad habits of playing incessantly at everything. I am sure this must be eating him up too because he prides on contributing to teams cause and wont just rest on teams victory to hide his form.
 
Kohli needs to stop running the ball to 3rd man in Test matches. He is always in ODI mode where he tries to score almost of every ball.
In England he tried to run the ball to 3rd man with an angles bat against Anderson and got out so many times by giving catch practice to 3rd and 4th slips. Or he tries that hook shot way too often. He was successful in Australia though with that shot.
Even in West Indies, he tried that shot way too many times to get into trouble.

At the moment, he is very over hyped in Tests. Perhaps the weakest player along with his buddy Rohit in the Indian Test team. But Kohli surely will sort out those issues.
 
troodon said:
Kohli needs to stop running the ball to 3rd man in Test matches. He is always in ODI mode where he tries to score almost of every ball.
In England he tried to run the ball to 3rd man with an angles bat against Anderson and got out so many times by giving catch practice to 3rd and 4th slips. Or he tries that hook shot way too often. He was successful in Australia though with that shot.
Even in West Indies, he tried that shot way too many times to get into trouble.

At the moment, he is very over hyped in Tests. Perhaps the weakest player along with his buddy Rohit in the Indian Test team. But Kohli surely will sort out those issues.
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How is he over-hyped?

It's just that people believe he has the potential to be one of the best based on his test form since Australian tour and because of the ODI giant he is. I don't think anyone is saying he already is the best.
 
Why does individual form matters that much if team is playing well?
 
Cricfan4eva said:
That's some good analysis.

but what you point out in the bold, I have seen him do it with ease in away conditions twice and both the times he went onto to score big. In Johannesburg, although the track didn't have much to offer, it still had good bounce and Steyn factor. Kohli showed great patience and left some really good balls.

Maybe too much LOI cricket this year has forced some bad habits of playing incessantly at everything. I am sure this must be eating him up too because he prides on contributing to teams cause and wont just rest on teams victory to hide his form.
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The guy is a driven character and trains as hard as anyone in the field. I think he will find his form back. Yes he played very well at Johannesburg. But I just think he needs to improve his temperament a bit more. He is an attacking player by make up and it's very hard for himself to go through a long period in the game without scoring many runs. I think that is where he needs to improve on, you will have some periods where it is difficult to score runs but you have to bide your time patiently, a test match is like a pendulum, it often sways to and fro with each session and whichever team handles the "key" moments better will come out on top.

Even in his best of forms, he very rarely makes mammoth scores. I think he needs to leave more balls and be a bit more patient and he will start making those big scores consistently.
 
Just needs to be a bit more patient. Try to avoid playing everything to 3rd man. Once he becomes patient he will be unstoppable in tests.
 
Cricfan4eva said:
How is he over-hyped?

It's just that people believe he has the potential to be one of the best based on his test form since Australian tour and because of the ODI giant he is. I don't think anyone is saying he already is the best.
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Having potential and not panning out as thought out to be is considered overhyped.

Kohli had an awesome series against Aus in Aus. Other than that he had a few innings here and there where he looked good. Most of the times, he gives up his wicket as he is impatient and feels like scoring runs of every ball.
 
Kohli need to respect Indian conditions. He himself has said that he considers away runs are more valuable. Kohli easily gets frustrated if he doesn't middle the ball.
 
I guess he is a little impatient atm and imo once he overcomes this and just tempers down a bit by becoming a little patient, he will again start scoring runs.It feels as though he has yet to decode this format like he has done with his LOs games.

"Ditto with his captaincy."Although one's gotta appreciate the no. of consecutive victories he has managed to deliver India here.
 
Doing better than his career average, that's not a loss of former but rather an improvement of form.
 
you cant read anything into a sample as small as 5 matches, its meaningless. it doesnt even dent a career average that is excellent.
 
How is his form a concern when he has been performing similar for the last 3 years?

He failed in first test but then it's not a big deal. He is no Sachin in tests that there should be overreaction for 1 test failure. Don't think anyone should count much on missing out for runs vs WI after the first test.

And his form is not a cause of concern as India have other players who are in category of good to great players similar to Kohli.

I can see each of the top 5 having potential to average 45+ when they will get to 60-75 tests sample.Vijay being an opener might be a little lesser. A Manish Pandey at 6 could have given them top 6 with 45+ avg.

Ashwin and Jadeja are again strongly effective bowlers who can bat bit and they have a good pacer in form of Shami and Bhuvi (if there is swing).

India looks to be forming a team with whole lot of valuable players who can win games for them rather than boosting their stats just.
 
Ab Fan said:
How is his form a concern when he has been performing similar for the last 3 years?

He failed in first test but then it's not a big deal. He is no Sachin in tests that there should be overreaction for 1 test failure. Don't think anyone should count much on missing out for runs vs WI after the first test.

And his form is not a cause of concern as India have other players who are in category of good to great players similar to Kohli.

I can see each of the top 5 having potential to average 45+ when they will get to 60-75 tests sample.Vijay being an opener might be a little lesser. A Manish Pandey at 6 could have given them top 6 with 45+ avg.

Ashwin and Jadeja are again strongly effective bowlers who can bat bit and they have a good pacer in form of Shami and Bhuvi (if there is swing).

India looks to be forming a team with whole lot of valuable players who can win games for them rather than boosting their stats just.
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His form is a concern because he doesn't look assured. As the Indian No. 4 batsman he should always at least score 100 runs per test at home.
 
JattMaula said:
His form is a concern because he doesn't look assured. As the Indian No. 4 batsman he should always at least score 100 runs per test at home.
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He is not the best player of spin in his team.

Pujara and Vijay are superior to him in that aspect.
 
Buffet said:
Why does individual form matters that much if team is playing well?
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If cricket was just a team sport why do we even discuss players? Obviously there is keen interest on certain players form and career graph.
 
Haroon786 said:
Doing better than his career average, that's not a loss of former but rather an improvement of form.
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Yeah but you take out that one innings, 5 innings @ an average of 15 does indicate that he needs to fix whatever is going wrong for him.
 
Ab Fan said:
How is his form a concern when he has been performing similar for the last 3 years?

He failed in first test but then it's not a big deal. He is no Sachin in tests that there should be overreaction for 1 test failure. Don't think anyone should count much on missing out for runs vs WI after the first test.

And his form is not a cause of concern as India have other players who are in category of good to great players similar to Kohli.

I can see each of the top 5 having potential to average 45+ when they will get to 60-75 tests sample.Vijay being an opener might be a little lesser. A Manish Pandey at 6 could have given them top 6 with 45+ avg.

Ashwin and Jadeja are again strongly effective bowlers who can bat bit and they have a good pacer in form of Shami and Bhuvi (if there is swing).

India looks to be forming a team with whole lot of valuable players who can win games for them rather than boosting their stats just.
Click to expand...

His form is a concern because he is someone in the middle order that can force a change in momentum in case of a poor start.

Take a look at first test in WI. India lost Pujara and Vijay quickly but he and Dhawan turned things around quickly with risk free scoring.

Vijay, Pujara and Rahane are bankable but in a precarious situation you can't pin hopes on them to turn things around quickly enough. While Rohit has that ability he is just not dependable in tests just yet.

This isn't about 1 test or series. If India are to perform well in the 16-18 tests at home that are coming up, Kohli has to be consistent.

And as for Batsman playing for stats in the past as opposed to now, well you can thank the pitches and bowlers for results we're getting now. Our previous batting lineup was one of the best world has ever seen but they didn't draw games because of boosting stats rather they didn't have a bowling lineup or pitches we get in home conditions these days.
 
Cricfan4eva said:
Everyone is raving about Kohli's captaincy and India's test form. But what that has covered is Kohli's recent form. He started the season brilliantly with his first double century albeit on a placid track but ever since then, even on good tracks he's got out quite cheaply.

His stats in 2016 aren't bad by any means

View attachment 69823

but take away that 200. And he has just 78 runs in 5 innings at an average of 15.6, small sample size but he is either due a big one in the next test or it could be a start of slump.

Anyone notice anything going wrong in his game or it is just a lull?
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not 5 innings, that's 10 innings and if you take out the 200 knock then that's 78 runs in 9 innings with average of 8.6 lol
 
Cricfan4eva said:
Yeah but you take out that one innings, 5 innings @ an average of 15 does indicate that he needs to fix whatever is going wrong for him.
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He's performing to his average not sure why that's surprising that he isn't performing better. He hasn't had a consistent period in Tests where he has shown he's at the same level of consistency as Smith, Root and Williamson.
 
Another choke at a crucial juncture. Leaving the scoring to Pujara yet again.
 
21.4 130.5 kph, gone! Kohli, Kohli, chasing at a ball wide outside off. This was full, but not quite a half-volley, and on a pitch with this sort of bounce, you shouldn't be playing with an angled bat. Ends up slicing it off the outside half of his bat to gully, where Latham takes it brilliantly, leaping to his right and grabbing it over his head 46/3
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Again just not showing enough patience. Pressure will only mount from here on for him to score big.
 
Like I said, the guy cannot leave balls outside off and it will keep hindering him from progressing in the longer format to the next level.
 
He'll do good to reach AB level in tests.

Clearly, Smith, Root and Williamson are superior test players.They are in their peak patch from 2-3 years while Kohli is yet to hit his peak patch.
 
As street cricketer said, kohli needs to stop chasing the balls outside off stump. Even Tendulkar had this problem against Mitchell Johnson's widish half volleys.
 
So this is the guy who kept KW and Amla out of the World XI :))
 
Amla averages like 40 in the last year or so. Him and AB have been scratchy (just like Kohli) in the last year or so and South Africa's slump in the longer format is no coincidence. None of Kohli, AB and Amla deserve to be in the best XI currently.
 
street cricketer said:
Amla averages like 40 in the last year or so. Him and AB have been scratchy (just like Kohli) in the last year or so and South Africa's slump in the longer format is no coincidence. None of Kohli, AB and Amla deserve to be in the best XI currently.
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AB and particularly Amla are proven performers in tests. Those are big names and will be discussed in the current world XI list. So a scratchy period of an year doesn't mean they don't deserve to be in World XI.

Kohli is yet unproven in tests and can't be kept on basis of potential when he is yet to hit the peak while the former two have done so in past.

Williamson deserved it though.
 
Ab Fan said:
AB and particularly Amla are proven performers in tests. Those are big names and will be discussed in the current world XI list. So a scratchy period of an year doesn't mean they don't deserve to be in World XI.

Kohli is yet unproven in tests and can't be kept on basis of potential when he is yet to hit the peak while the former two have done so in past.

Williamson deserved it though.
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In that case, Williamson averages just around 40 in Asia and outside asia away from his home. Not really sure he can make it ahead of Root and Smith.
 
Also if we are going by reputations, Younis Khan certainly deserves to be in the line up.
 
street cricketer said:
In that case, Williamson averages just around 40 in Asia and outside asia away from his home. Not really sure he can make it ahead of Root and Smith.
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50+ in the UAE.

World of difference between a 25 year old carrying a team on his back and players who don't have the pressure of scoring runs every time.

If you remove Kohli's runs in the Aussie tour, I wouldn't be surprised to see his average drop below 40.
 
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Aman said:
50+ in the UAE.

World of difference between a 25 year old carrying a team on his back and players who don't have the pressure of scoring runs every time.

If you remove Kohli's runs in the Aussie tour, I wouldn't be surprised to see his average drop below 40.
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Why would anyone remove kohli's runs in Australia tour. Any particular reason?
 
Prince_ said:
Why would anyone remove kohli's runs in Australia tour. Any particular reason?
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Because those runs have skewed his Test record. Without that series, his record doesn't make for pretty reading.
 
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Aman said:
50+ in the UAE.

World of difference between a 25 year old carrying a team on his back and players who don't have the pressure of scoring runs every time.

If you remove Kohli's runs in the Aussie tour, I wouldn't be surprised to see his average drop below 40.
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Is that not just three matches?
 
Kohli has never been effective in Asia.

He was very effective in SA and Aus.

I am concerned for him.

Has to go back to the drawing board and rebuild his test batting.
 
Aman said:
Should have been really easy for the Aussies then..
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And Williamson didn't do that well either. Don't try to make it sound like he was really dominant in UAE.

3,23,32,11,192.....these are his scores in UAE. He's played well only in one innings in UAE. Take out that 192 since u r quite good at taking out good innings from a players career and his average will fall below..... 20 lol.
 
Haroon786 said:
It is what it is, I guess.
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If you mean by can't judge in 2 games "it is what it is", then I disagree.

If you didn't mean that, I agree. If a bowler did that, we would be fawning. If Kohli was doing well otherwise, we would say SA was a success.

And in SA, he was very disciplined. Didn't go fishing. The match threads were filled with posters in awe of his discipline that time. That's why he got runs.

These days his batting has lots of issues. Hard hands, indiscipline, jald bazi, etc.
 
street cricketer said:
In that case, Williamson averages just around 40 in Asia and outside asia away from his home. Not really sure he can make it ahead of Root and Smith.
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What has Kane avg in Asia to do with it.He is an all round player who can score anywhere and on any kind of wicket and is at peak for last 3 yrs?

Kohli is yet to hit the peak in tests.
 
His style of play often flirts with indiscipline. Meaning there's enough body of work to suggest that he can cope with test cricket, but I think he falls in to bad habits every now and then. Part of it, I suspect is driven by the 'new age' mumbo jumbo he has been sprouting about 'no such thing as form, just how you feel on the given day'
But this is a long home season, and he should be a better test player for it at the end of this. Can play everywhere but shades of Rohit show up every now and then in his test batting approach.
 
Ab Fan said:
What has Kane avg in Asia to do with it.He is an all round player who can score anywhere and on any kind of wicket and is at peak for last 3 yrs?

Kohli is yet to hit the peak in tests.
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Or there is another explanation for it. And its not pretty.

I hope its not true.
 
Pete Rose said:
His style of play often flirts with indiscipline. Meaning there's enough body of work to suggest that he can cope with test cricket, but I think he falls in to bad habits every now and then. Part of it, I suspect is driven by the 'new age' mumbo jumbo he has been sprouting about 'no such thing as form, just how you feel on the given day'
But this is a long home season, and he should be a better test player for it at the end of this. Can play everywhere but shades of Rohit show up every now and then in his test batting approach.
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Good post.

I would ignore the presser comments.

Kohli did say in IPL that when you are not in zone, international cricket makes you chase every run. So he does acknowledge the concept of "form".
 
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street cricketer said:
Also if we are going by reputations, Younis Khan certainly deserves to be in the line up.
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Reputation does matter. Younis is underrated in this regard just like Rahane is.

No expert will leave out Kohli and have Rahane in their test team untill Rahane creates his aura.

These guys get their due a little later.
 
Prince_ said:
And Williamson didn't do that well either. Don't try to make it sound like he was really dominant in UAE.

3,23,32,11,192.....these are his scores in UAE. He's played well only in one innings in UAE. Take out that 192 since u r quite good at taking out good innings from a players career and his average will fall below..... 20 lol.
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Even so, he is still a far more accomplished Test cricketer than Kohli despite having the pressure of carrying the batting.

Also, one third of your Test 100's in one series is huge. It's delusional to deny that in a career of 46 Tests.
 
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sensible-indian-fan said:
Or there is another explanation for it. And its not pretty.

I hope its not true.
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I don't think the other explanation you are talking about would be true.

He will start peaking when he gets his overattacking mindset of game right.The quality is there in himfor sure.

But I can see him underachieving in tests and its his odi exploits which has created aura and fan following for him as of now.
 
sensible-indian-fan said:
If you mean by can't judge in 2 games "it is what it is", then I disagree.

If you didn't mean that, I agree. If a bowler did that, we would be fawning. If Kohli was doing well otherwise, we would say SA was a success.

And in SA, he was very disciplined. Didn't go fishing. The match threads were filled with posters in awe of his discipline that time. That's why he got runs.

These days his batting has lots of issues. Hard hands, indiscipline, jald bazi, etc.
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I meant in terms of the 'going both ways'.

I get that indiscipline may be causing his dismissals, but recently whenever he's getting out, isn't his SR like 40-50 ? I wouldn't call that as being tentative to score quickly.
 
sensible-indian-fan said:
Good post.

I would ignore the presser comments.

Kohli did say in IPL that when you are not in zone, international cricket makes you chase every run. So he does acknowledge the concept of "form".
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Could be. Athletes have different ways of rationalizing a bad performance out of their system. Some prefer not to call it a slump simply because that just puts pressure and makes you play differently. I mean not everyone is going to cut out their cover drive to score a double century against Australia.
I would say that as a Pakistani fan, I would rather our bowlers face kohli rather than the type of unnamed batsman above. Equal chances of getting him out. Having said that, his innings at the World Cup (different format, I know) against Pakistan was a disciplined enough. He has it in him, just that the stakes need to be higher.
 
JattMaula said:
Yes. 46 tests at 44 average is not acceptable in middle order.
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thats a good batsman's record

Kohli has ATG potential so for his talent and skill level he is severely underperforming.

if he retires with similar stats then he wont be considered anything more than a good batsman
 
This random country wise comparison makes no sense when a player is just 26-27 years old and either his peak days are still to come or he has just entered into his phase.

Kohli is all round player and can score overseas. That's not the problem. His problem is his consistency unlike the other three.

An avg of 44-45 doesn't put you in the same league as some other guy averaging 51 carrying a weaker team on his back.You don't need any country wise comparison for that to prove anything.

Kane Williamson will score everywhere in the world unless he regresses. Averages and numbers will be up or down in various countries but that doesn't mean he struggles anywhere unless he shows lack of technique or temperament.
 
Ab Fan said:
This random country wise comparison makes no sense when a player is just 26-27 years old and either his peak days are still to come or he has just entered into his phase.

Kohli is all round player and can score overseas. That's not the problem. His problem is his consistency unlike the other three.

An avg of 44-45 doesn't put you in the same league as some other guy averaging 51 carrying a weaker team on his back.You don't need any country wise comparison for that to prove anything.

Kane Williamson will score everywhere in the world unless he regresses. Averages and numbers will be up or down in various countries but that doesn't mean he struggles anywhere unless he shows lack of technique or temperament.
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true. And Kohli has show na strong techinacal weakness in one country hes played in. May improve

Atm for me Kane Williamson is the most complete of the Fab Four (Smith, Williamson, Root and Kohli)
 
KW has conquered Test batting just like Kohli has conquered T20 batting.

Kohli needs a kick to bum.
 
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