CHENNAI: In the first innings, Virat Kohli poked at one outside the off-stump channel and the keeper did the rest. In the second innings, he came forward, bat and pad close to each other. A classical offspinner's delivery on a wearing surface meant it gripped, turned and found Kohli's inside edge. Forward short leg completed a low catch.
In a microcosm, these two dismissals have laid bare the batter's red-ball problems, against both pace and spin, since that 100 against Bangladesh in November 2019.
If the pacers found the outside edge of the glove for a catch in the cordon against New Zealand (3 out of 6 innings), South Africa (4/4), Australia (1/2) and England (7/9), the spinners have found a lot of joy off his inside edge or the gap between his inside edge and the pads. It has been a popular mode of dismissal for both England (2/6) and New Zealand (1/2) and now Bangladesh (1/3). Spinners have also successfully managed to catch him in front of the stumps several times since the beginning of 2021 (five times in Asia).
It all points to a batter who's playing down the wrong line as well as having some trouble in assessing the ball without his pad getting in the way. Or he's not accounting for the spin. You will need both hands to recall dismissals that have followed this pattern in the last two years. Dom Bess at Chennai. Moeen Ali at Chennai. Ajaz Patel at Mumbai. Lasith Embuldeniya in Mohali. Taijul Islam a few days ago during the first test in Chattogram.
Saturday's knock — a 22-ball 1 off 20 minutes — is the latest in a series of knocks that put forth his struggle against spin. The numbers make for grim reading.
In nine Tests and 15 innings in Asia since January 2021, he averages 22 against spin and it's an overall weakness against both left-to-right and right-to-left weakness. Out of the 14 times, he has been dismissed in this time frame, spinners have taken his wicket 11 times while conceding under 2.75 runs an over. It suggests he's having problems not just hitting boundaries but also in strike rotation.
When the former captain was facing the left-arm spin of Islam on Saturday, Sanjay Manjrekar, who was on air at the time, quipped that Kohli's lifetime average against that particular bowling type was in the 60s. Yes, but those numbers are no longer relevant. In fact, Kohli has picked up a recent issue against left-arm spin — Jack Leach, Rachin Ravindra, Embuldeniya, Islam, Praveen Jayawickrama and Patel have all dismissed him in Asia since 2021 — as well. In this time period and against this type of spin, he averages 22.83 (137 runs for six dismissals).
Even if he has recovered some of his lost mojo in white-ball cricket, all of the above issues continue unabated in Tests. There used to be a time when he longed to dominate the bowlers and played the game on his terms. These days, he looks like a batter playing according to the tempo of the opposition bowlers (there have been a few gems thrown in like the one he played on the last day at Chennai in the first Test in 2021 but they have been few and far in between). Statistically speaking, he's no longer a big wicket, at least on turning tracks in Asia. Out of the 14 times, he has been dismissed in the continent since 2021, he's more likely to be dismissed for 0 (3) or 1 (2) than cross 30 (4 times). So, it's not a surprise to note that he averages 23.85 across the nine Tests (for those wondering, it's 27.62 across all Tests since 2021).
Which of course brings the one obvious question. If the batter was somebody else, would the BCCI have asked him to go back to make some runs in domestic cricket? Heck, you can safely argue that Kohli the captain would have dropped Kohli the batter. India's next Test series begins in roughly 50 days' time against Australia with plenty at stake.
Pat Cummins will look to Kohli's outside edge. Nathan Lyon will want to feast on Kohli's inside edge. For the 34-year-old Kohli, the task is more fundamental. Perform against Australia in India (330 at an average of 33) like the way he has performed against them in Australia (1352 at an average of 54.08).
He has raged against the dying light in another format. Will he repeat that same trick in the longest format now?