 "Virat Kohli has scored just 5 runs in the three T20 World Cup matches against Ireland, Pakistan and the USA. AP")
Virat Kohli’s form would be a concern for India when they square off against Canada in their final group match of the T20 World Cup on Saturday. Before that, though, weather gods need to permit any action whatsoever with several parts of Florida ravaged by torrential rain and flash flood warning in place.
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With three wins in three, India are through to the next stage of the competition which will be held entirely in the West Indies.
Kohli entered the T20 World Cup as the player in form. During the IPL, the right-hander scored 741 runs at a strike-rate of 154 for Royal Challengers Bengaluru. It earned him the Orange Cap for the leading scorer in the T20 league.
Therefore, it wasn’t an entirely misplaced expectation for him to carry that forward into the ICC showpiece, which is perhaps his final chance to earn India an ICC trophy after 11 years.
But after three matches, Kohli has produced only five runs at an average of 1.66, including a golden duck against the USA .
In 28 T20I matches that the maestro has played, he’s only had four other other innings of single digits in T20 World Cups and never in succession.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsMaybe, an 1850km trip from New York to Florida might bring a turnaround in fortunes.
The pitch at the Broward County stadium might not be as inconsistent as the one in New York, where the uneven bounce and the slow nature of the outfield became bigger talking points than the cricket.
What would ease some pressure on him is the fact that that the lean run has not affected the team’s fortunes.
However, the premier batter’s low scores, particularly since he is opening alongside skipper Rohit Sharma, has put some pressure on the subsequent batters to take the India board forward.
There’s been support on and off the field for the legend to try and stage a comeback.
“The biggest motivation for any players is to win matches, especially when you are playing for your country. He has done so well for India over the years and won so many games. I think he recognises that. We are in the early phases of the tournament. There’s Super 8s, semi-finals, and hopefully the final. All he needs to do is show patience and faith in himself, which i think he has plenty,” said Sunil Gavaskar on Star Sports.
“When you get three low scores, it doesn’t mean he is not batting well. Sometimes you get good deliveries. Any other day, the ball would’ve gone wide or over the slip for a boundary, today it didn’t. So, there’s nothing to worry about. We have to show faith in him. Much believe that he is going to come good, sooner rather than later,” the batting great added.
India’s Shivam Dube also backed his 35-year-old teammate to come good - as he has done time and again throughout his career. “Who am I to talk about Kohli? If he hasn’t got runs in three games, he may well get three hundreds in the next three and there will be no more discussions. We all know his game and how he plays,” he said on Thursday.