Lack of domestic cricket a reason behind Virat Kohli's failure in Tests

The only way former India cricket team captain Virat Kohli can probably contribute as a player on the pitch nowadays is by playing to the gallery while trying to get under the skin of the opposition and little else.

Kohli occupies the pivotal No. 4 position in the batting line-up but keeps edging the ball behind, not something a top-order batsman is expected to do especially for a long period of time.

On Friday, Kohli made a 69-ball 17 before falling to the edge once again, off Scott Boland. India folded for 185 in 72.2 overs on Day 1 of the fifth and final Test as Scott Boland picked 4/31 and Mitchell Starc 3/49. It was a green surface and Australia’s perfect lines and lengths meant that the edge was always in play.

This was the sixth straight time that Kohli has lost his wicket on this tour for under 50. Barring that 100 not out in the second innings of the first Test at the Optus Stadium in Perth which came after the top three batters had already ground out Australian bowlers for 84 overs, he has failed to make any significant contribution and has fallen prey to the same mode of dismissal.

This kind of weakness, according to experts, can be hidden and camouflaged in white ball cricket but in Test match cricket, it is hard to get away from.

"In earlier times, there was not much T20 cricket or one-day cricket. The international calendar wasn't so busy. So a player, if he was out of form or out of India team, would go back to domestic days' format cricket to get runs. Multi-day format is important for adapting," says former India player Surinder Khanna. 

Khanna lamented the batting displayed by the Indians in recent times. "They can’t play spin, movement or bounce. This is sad."

Which brings us to the question whether Kohli is suitable for red ball cricket nowadays.

He turns up straightaway for Test matches with no prior preparatory games and that is a luxury being accorded to him, one may add, unjustifiably.

The fact is Kohli has not played domestic cricket for a long time. One fails to recall the last time he turned up for Delhi in Ranji Trophy. Perhaps it was in 2012-13 season in Ghaziabad against Uttar Pradesh that he played his last multi-day domestic game. That was an era when both Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag were in the side. 

The Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) cannot do much about him not representing it for it is a state association and the national commitments take precedence. With all the talk of workload, the state bodies cannot force cricketers to play.

It is the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) that should have taken strict action, asking him to shape up of ship out. The BCCI should have told him and others to play domestic cricket which is where these flaws can be rectified and batsmen can get confidence back and relearn to bat in a multi-day game even though the bowlers are a rung below the international level.

As it is, there are no tour games nowadays due to packed schedules where batsmen can work out their flaws and get into the habit of building innings in longer format.

Kohli averages 26.28 in seven innings in the ongoing Border Gavaskar Trophy series, aggregating 184. In 2024, he totalled just 417 runs in 10 Tests at an average of 24.52. Over the last four years, he has averaged only 32.3, scoring 1906 runs in 36 Test matches with just three centuries.

Tags : Virat Kohli, India cricket team, Australia, Border Gavaskar Trophy, Sydney, Scott Boland, SCG