Virat Kohli‘s poor run during the recently-concluded Border Gavaskar Trophy can be attributed to a “mental block” that he is facing currently, which has led to him repeatedly getting out caught-behind off an edge while poking at balls outside his off-stump, says former Australia captain Ricky Ponting.
Kohli began the tour in fine fashion, with a century (100 not out) in the second innings of the tour-opening Test in Perth. But his other eight innings during the five-Test series produced just 90 runs for an aggregate of 190 in 9 innings at an average of 23.75.
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“The challenge is, and I can see it with Virat now, how much he wants it. He’s trying so hard; that actually makes batting harder. The harder you try sometimes with batting, the less success you’re to have,” Ponting said on ‘The ICC Review’.
Ponting, who was part of the Channel Seven commentary team during the Border Gavaskar Trophy, explained that further by citing his own example.
“I started thinking more about not getting out rather than scoring runs. And that might sound strange, but that’s what it was. I was trying to be so perfect, set the right example, play exactly the way my team needed me all the time,” said Ponting. “But when I was playing my best, I didn’t think about any of that. I just walked out and thought about scoring runs. If I got a half volley, I drove it. If I got a short ball, I pulled it.
“I can just see a little bit of that with Virat now, where even the way that he’s getting out, you can see he doesn’t want to be playing at those balls. He’s trying not to do it, but there’s some mental block there that’s making him feel for that one outside the off-stump,” he added.
Besides Kohli, India captain Rohit Sharma too had a forgettable tour of Australia, where he lost two of the three Tests he captained and the other one ended in a draw.
His confidence as a captain is possibly shaken because of his poor run with the bat since the home Test series against Bangladesh. In Australia, it hit a new low, resulting in just 31 runs from five innings on the tour at an average of 6.20, which is the worst by a visiting captain in Australia.
Because of his poor form, Rohit stepped aside for the final Test of the series in Sydney, leaving Jasprit Bumrah to captain the side and Shubman Gill to take his place in the playing eleven.
