Edgbaston| Cricket is a great leveler and the sport has time and again proved that nobody is greater than it. When asked about hitting the rough patch, Kohli was quoted saying "I've had it once when I had toured England in 2014 and now people just wait for me to hit my bad patch", this was peak Kohli speaking when he used to score runs on his will. The former Indian skipper dominated world cricket for almost eight years, starting from 2012 till the time pandemic hit, but then came a slump that makes cricket experts and fans all over the world wonder, what is going wrong for the modern-day Indian legend.
There is a thin line of difference between "aggression" and "bad conduct" on the cricket field and the former Indian skipper just does not seem to get it. Kohli's greatest skill was his capability to channel aggression into spectacular performances, but for now, it seems like the aggression has stayed and the performances have taken a back seat.
In the concluded Test match between England and India, Virat Kohli came out and started sledging England's in-form batter Jonny Bairstow. With Shami operating, Kohli was caught on stump mic saying "bit quicker than Southee, eh?" and this certainly did not go down well with Jonny Bairstow who had dealt with New Zealand in centuries. As far as the match situation goes, there was no need to sledge Bairstow, and was completely out of the line. But this inappropriate behavior on the field is something that Virat terms as aggression and at this moment none of it is visible while he bats.
Kohli just did not stop at Bairstow. He did the same thing to Alex Lees who was taking on the Indian attack before tea was taken on day 4. Virat also has a reputation of giving send-offs to the opposition batsmen after their dismissal and he overdoes it at times. Giving Kohli a taste of his own medicine, Joe Root celebrated Virat's wicket in the same manner when Stokes got him in the second innings.
The wait for Virat's 71st century continues and the moment it looks like he is far away from it. Virat gave up captaincy from all formats to reduce the workload from his shoulders but as of now, none of it is visible in his batting so far.
It is high time that Virat regains his crown back and claims his glory back, the performances that made him the great player he once was.
