Virat Kohli Is Putting So Much Into The Captaincy Now That It Has Taken Something Away From His Batting, Says Nasser Hussain

Aug 24, 2021 at 2:02 PM

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Virat Kohli Is Putting So Much Into The Captaincy Now That It Has Taken Something Away From His Batting, Says Nasser Hussain

Nasser Hussain feels Virat Kohli’s captaincy has taken something away from his form as a batsman, as experts struggle to decode Kohli’s recent poor form with the bat.

The Indian cricket team is riding the waves of success under the leadership of Virat Kohli. Team India is undoubtedly one of the most dominant sides in world cricket at the moment, winning not just at home but overseas too. On the tour of England, while India has taken a 1-0 lead after the first two games, Virat Kohli’s performances on the personal level have been quite subdued.

Virat Kohli
Virat Kohli[photo: Twitter]

Nasser Hussain: Virat Kohli Is Putting So Much Into The Captaincy Now That It Has Taken Something Away From His Batting

0, 42, and 20 are Virat Kohli’s scores in three innings of the five-match Test series against England so far. Across formats, the India skipper hasn’t scored a century since November 2019 and has also slipped to the 5th spot in the ICC Test rankings as a batsman.

While Virat Kohli’s bat has unarguably been silent for a while, former England skipper Nasser Hussain feels it’s because he is putting a lot in as a captain to help India win the Test series on the tour of England.

“You could argue that Kohli is putting so much into the captaincy of India now in his pursuit of a first Test series win in England as skipper that it has taken something away from his batting,” Nasser Hussain said ahead of the third India-England Test at Headingley.

“He seems vulnerable again outside off-stump, as he was when he played here in 2014. Certainly, he got out after a nothing shot to a wide ball from Sam Curran at Lord’s and the Kohli of the 2018 tour would have left that.”

Virat Kohli celebrates his last century during the second day of the second Test cricket match of a two-match series between India and Bangladesh at the Eden Gardens cricket stadium in Kolkata on November 23, 2019. (Photo by Dibyangshu SARKAR / AFP)
Virat Kohli celebrates his last century during the second day of the second Test cricket match of a two-match series between India and Bangladesh at the Eden Gardens cricket stadium in Kolkata on November 23, 2019. (Photo by Dibyangshu SARKAR / AFP)

“But he knows how much it will mean to India to win this series. And he will judge himself on the results of the next three Tests rather than the runs he scores. He’d certainly be gutted if he scored centuries at Leeds and the Oval but lost the series anyway,” Nasser Hussain further opined.

While Virat Kohli’s bat hasn’t done much talking of late, the player himself has been quite vocal on the field, taking the charge of the opponents. The second Test between India and England at Lord’s saw a number of verbal duels between Indian and England players.

Virat Kohli has not scored an international hundred since November 2019 and averages less than 25 in 10 Tests since the start of the 2020 cricket season. The India captain got out for a duck in the first Test but managed to play two crucial knocks in the 2nd Test at Lords, managing 42 and 20.

However, Virat Kohli has not scored a hundred in international cricket since he got one in the day-night Test against Bangladesh in 2019. In 10 Tests since 2020, Virat Kohli has scored 407 runs at an average of 23.94 which is well below his career average of 51.41.

Nasser Hussain: Virat Kohli Gets Under The Skin Of Every Team He Plays Against

Reflecting on Virat Kohli’s antics on the field, Nasser Hussain said that the 32-year-old has the ability to get under the skin of any opponent.

“Kohli’s aggression is aimed at winding up the opposition and he gets under the skin of every team he plays against. I’m sure most don’t particularly like playing against him and English supporters won’t particularly like him but he won’t care a jot about that,” he wrote.

Nasser Hussain. (Photo by Gareth Copley/Getty Images)
Nasser Hussain. (Photo by Gareth Copley/Getty Images)

India might have taken a 1-0 lead in the 5-match series but there are still three more games to go. The third Test will begin on Wednesday in Leeds.

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