Virat Kohli, the backbone of Indian batting, has looked off-colour in the ongoing five-match Test series in England. Kohli has struggled with the bat in the entire series with scores of 1, 8, 25, 0, 39, 28, 0 and 7 from four Tests.
Kohli, in a losing cause in ten Tests, is averaging 27.70 – his tally being 554 in twenty innings, including a hundred and two fifties. He has so far scored six hundreds and nine fifties in 28 Tests.
Even during the two tour matches prior to the start of the series, the 25-year-old managed to get starts but failed to convert them into big knocks. He scored 29 against Leicestershire in the first warm-up, while he hit 36 versus Derbyshire in the second.
Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar said that every cricketer goes through lean phases in their careers but those hardly last long. “Kohli is too good a player. But like all good players go through a lean patch, maybe this is a lean patch for him,” said Gavaskar.
Gavaskar also has a piece of advice for the Indian vice-captain. “I think all he (Kohli) has got to do is have a little bit of discipline, have a little bit of patience. By discipline, I mean having the discipline of avoiding certain shots and have a lot of patience,” Gavaskar said.
Other statistical highlights of the Old Trafford Test:
# England’s magnificent triumph by an innings & 54 runs is their twelfth by an innings margin over India – their second at Old Trafford, the first being by an innings and 207 runs in 1952.
# India have never won a Test match at Old Trafford, losing four and drawing the remaining five.
# England have won 42, lost 21 and drawn 48 out of 111 Tests played against India – winning per cent 37.83.
# England, after gaining a 200-run lead in the first innings, have never lost a Test, winning 129 and drawing 37.
# India have lost a Test within three days 14 times, including six times in England. Before the Old Trafford Test, the Test lost by India within three days was against Australia at Perth by an innings and 37 runs in January 2012.
