Kohli's aura of invincibility has faded and his presence doesn’t instil the same fear: Chopra
Kohli has been on a break since India's successful tour to England, which saw the miseries of the batter get compounded. In the six innings that Kohli played across all formats in England, the right-hander failed to notch a single half-century, with 20, which he scored in the rescheduled Test, being his highest score of the tour.
Team India's premier batter Virat Kohli is all set to return to action in the upcoming Asia Cup, which gets underway from August 27 in UAE. The former India captain has not been in the greatest of form and fans will hope for a change in fortune in the upcoming continental event. Kohli has been on a break since India's successful tour to England, which saw the miseries of the batter get compounded. In the six innings that Kohli played across all formats in England, the right-hander failed to notch a single half-century, with 20, which he scored in the rescheduled Test, being his highest score of the tour.
Former India Test opener Aakash Chopra in his latest article on ESPNCricinfo made an analysis on Kohli's poor patch. He stated although there is no doubt about the "class and skills" Kohli holds, he claimed that his prowess as a world class batter has witnessed a major dip.
"There's no doubt in anyone's mind about Virat Kohli's class and his skills, and even if he doesn't score another run in international cricket from here on, he will still be regarded as one of the greatest to have played the game. A man who did superhuman things and mastered all three formats like almost no others.
"Still, there's also no hiding from the fact that the bat that worked like a magic wand isn't obeying his commands anymore. There are more misses than hits. The aura of invincibility has faded and his presence doesn't instil the same fear in bowlers' minds as it used to earlier," he wrote.
While it's all true that Kohli has struggled a lot of late but the Asia Cup has mostly been a happy outing for the talismanic cricketer. He currently stands as the third highest run-scorer for India in the history of the tournament. Kohli has accumulated 766 runs from 14 innings in the tournament and fans will hope for a similar show from arguably one of India's best batters.