Indian captain Virat Kohli registered worst-ever numbers in a Test series during the New Zealand tour. What aches the skipper?
38 runs in 4 innings at 9.50. The numbers went flashing all over social media as Colin de Grandhomme got the ball to seam back into Virat Kohli at the Hagley Oval on day 2 of the second Test to trap the Indian skipper in front of the middle stump. Similar to the first innings dismissal by Tim Southee, and similar to Cape Town 2018 by Vernon Philander, yet again. Fortunately, he did not waste any review this time, as he walked back slowly, his head dipped in disappointment. The dismissal on 14 wrapped up Kohli's worst-ever numbers in a Test series. While disheartened fans could only highlight those aforementioned figures, analysts and veterans of the game drew comparisons with his horror tour of England in 2014. But what truly troubled Kohli throughout the four innings?
The 2014 tour to England was Kohli's first blip in his illustrious career. Just 134 odd runs in 10 innings at 13.40 an average and a highest score of 39 left the entire world thinking whether it was the end of Kohli's journey against the cheery red. The English pair of James Anderson and Stuart Broad together called the follies in Kohli's perfectly-developing game, bringing him down to a new low in world cricket. And it sparked a barren two years for the youngster against the swinging ball down the sixth/fifth stump line. According to CricViz, in 2014 and 2015, he averaged just 18.50 and 21.00 against away swing.
But the mode of dismissal was same, barring the first one. If you clearly remember the England tour, Kohli, just like in Wellington, Christchurch and Auckland (in the ODIs) this time around, was teased down the outside off channel by Anderson and Broad before the latter got one to nip back in. Kohli had got his front foot far too across, played around the pads, missed the ball and was struck plumb in front of the off stump. Kohli subsequently struggled to find the off stump and the English new-ball pair reaped the rewards with good-length outswingers to lure him into playing his favourite cover drive only to find the edge every single time.
Kohli's numbers dropped significantly with his weakness out in the public. But while most retract by to their shell before eventually fading out, Kohli opted to adapt and hence knocked on Sachin Tendulkar's door. And over the course of the next year, the changes suggested by the great one was clearly evident. For starters, he stood 33 cm outside the crease against such deliveries, with a wider stance. The head remained on top of the off stump and his forward stride was long and straight. And the changes did bore fruit as his average against such deliveries increased to over 70 in Test cricket in both 2016 and 2017 and remained significantly above 40 in 2018.
Virat Kohli was dismissed in similar fashion in both the innings during the second Test against New Zealand.
But after Kohli closed in on his weakness, adapted intelligently against deliveries outside the off stump, the South Africa Test series in 2018 exposed another of his weaknesses. Kohli's closed batting stance to negate the outswingers exposed his difficulty in facing the one that came back into him. According to CricViz, his numbers against pace deliveries in line with the stumps dropped drastically with increase in his average against the balls down the sixth and fifth stump line, a complete irony for the batsman who waited for more for the inswingers under seaming conditions back before the England tour. In 2014, he averaged well over 60 against deliveries in line with the stumps, which dropped to around 50 between 2015 and 2017 and it took a nosedive in 2018 when the numbers stood at 20.
In the South Africa series in 2018, Kohli had capped off a sensational campaign averaging 47.66 amid dismal batting performances from his teammates, but he struggled significantly against this variety of deliveries as he was dismissed thrice in 17 deliveries. The most famous being the one where he was set up perfectly by Philander in Cape Town.
Two years later, the problem has returned to haunt him again. First in Auckland in the second ODI, then in second innings of the first Test in Wellington, and another in the first innings at Christchurch -- all by Southee - and the final one in the second innings in Hagley Oval by de Grandhomme.
At Eden Park, Kohli was teased around the outside off line with varying lengths before Southee got the fuller one with the scrambled seam to dart back in from wide of the crease. He looked to flick the ball, but ended up playing around it, allowing the ball to sneak past the inside edge and rattle against the stumps. In the other dismissal by Southee, with which he created a perfect 10 against the Indian skipper, the plan was same. And finally, at Christchurch, he was undone by the gentle fullish ball from de Grandhomme that cut back in sharply.
How were these dismissals possible? Kohli looked solid in his approach against the balls moving away from him. If you notice his shuffle across the stumps against this variety, his back foot remained around the middle and off stump. But in those three dismissals, Kohli is forced to cover the swing and go close to the ball when it is being pitched on or outside the off stump and from that length New Zealand tried to nip the ball back in.
Former Indian cricketer VVS Laxman, however, reckons that his old habit from that England tour has come back to haunt him.
"The problem for Virat Kohli is not the LBW dismissal, but the way the bat is coming down. This was the way he was getting out in England against the moving ball, especially against James Anderson. In this series we have seen the bat coming down at an angle, that is why there is always going to be a gap between bat and ball. He will not have any time to meet the ball once there is movement," Laxman said on Sunday in the post-match show on Star Sports. "In this series, in these two innings, the old habit of Kohli had come back to haunt him."
What remains truly concerning in Kohli's dismal tour of New Zealand is that there were two other types of dismissals of Kohli. Kyle Jamieson, in the opener at Basin Reserve, had set Kohli up with a series of shorter deliveries around off to push him inside the crease before dishing out that outswinger on good length to find the outside edge. And in second innings, he was dismissed by a short delivery from Boult from around the wicket.
The manner in which Kohli adapted to the outswingers post the England horror, or any minor blip that he faced in his illustrious career is a testament to the talent that defines him. And hence, it is only a matter of time that Kohli will find a remedy against these dismissals he incurred in New Zealand.
