Virat Kohli, who has brought immense joy to millions of Indian Cricket Team (ICT) fans over the years, the only cricketer who has ever had a realistic chance of matching Sachin Tendulkar’s iconic 100-ton record, is currently struggling. even a good run of form.

The legendary batsman’s form has changed drastically since the turn of the decade and there have been few glimpses of his greatness on display in 2023, especially during the ICC ODI World Cup 2023 where he emerged as the tournament’s leading run-scorer with 765 runs in 11 innings. He averaged an impressive 95.63, including 3 tons and 6 fifties.

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The hosts of the tournament, India, were the hot favorites to win the entire tournament, but they faced Australia in the final in Ahmedabad and were a team that reached the final as underdogs for the first time in their cricket career.

A nation that had only known the word ‘domination’ in the entire history of cricket was facing arguably India’s best white-ball team, led by Rohit Sharma.

Virat Kohli has been heavily criticized for his poor form, having failed to score a century since 2020, ahead of the match against Afghanistan in the 2022 Asia Cup.

The century against Afghanistan eased the burden and the right-handed batsman went on to play one of the most iconic cricket innings ever, scoring an unbeaten 82 against Pakistan at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on October 23, 2022.

The strike came at a crucial moment for India; India had only a 3% chance of winning the match (as per ESPN Cricinfo), with the side needing 28 off 8 overs and two consecutive sixes, followed by a poor performance from Mohammad Nawaz’s bowling. The decisive finish gave India a famous victory over their fierce rivals.

In 2023, Virat Kohli broke record after record by surpassing Sachin Tendulkar as the cricketer with the most centuries in ODIs, with the Delhi-born cricketer reaching the milestone of 80 international tons with a 100 against New Zealand in the ICC semi-final. ODI World Cup 2023 At Wankhede Stadium on 15 November.

Fast forward a year and here we are, back to square one. Virat Kohli has been in poor form with the bat and is enduring arguably his worst run ever. The 35-year-old takes a beating from all angles, be it against the spinner or the pacer.

Such was the case with Virat Kohli; A man who is used to scoring a ton in every 4th or 5th innings has now recorded 25 international innings with just 3 fifties (post 2023 ODI WC).

The real question that arises is what happened to one of the greatest players of all time, a sudden drop in form and not being able to read anything.

Here’s what you need to know:

1. Inability to Play Quality Spin: Virat Kohli has always been known to struggle against quality spin bowling and has often found himself in trouble around the world, be it at home or abroad. The right-handed hitter does not have the ability to play sweeping shots.

Virat Kohli often tries to play the ball with his wrists and his technical brilliance is such that his inability to play sweep is overshadowed by his world-class wrist work.

However, as seen in the New Zealand series, Virat Kohli either does not get down to overspin or prevents the ball from leaving the surface, resulting in him being bowled.

Even during his latest dismissal, the former Indian skipper was unable to read the surface due to the constant break in the ball and was dismissed with a long ball bowled to leg stump.

Virat failed to cut the turn and fell behind on the turn, causing him to take an even slimmer edge and was caught at slips by Daryl Mitchell, who took a sharp diving catch.

2. Reflexes and Hand-Eye Coordination: Reflexes tend to slow down with age, and fitness isn’t the only thing that guarantees form. Virat Kohli is one of the fittest cricketers in the world and what makes his fitness even more surprising is that he is 35 years old and is being compared to the upcoming stars in terms of fitness and runs between the wickets.

However, running between the wickets is always the second part of the innings as the main aim is to hit and time the ball for a boundary or a few runs.

Virat Kohli’s main problem is that he gets beaten and cannot time the ball like before. His lack of quick reflexes was heavily exposed during ICC T20 World Cup 2024 in which the legendary cricketer failed to score any goals (except in the final where he played a vital knock).

On a surface where players like Axar Patel and Heinrich Klassen were scoring at will, Virat Kohli needed time to adjust and the demand of the situation was that the Indian team desperately needed a pillar to guide the innings beyond par. He did it successfully.

Now coming to the Tests, his dismissals against Mitchell Santner and Ajaz Patel have certainly raised questions about his reflexes and the upcoming BGT series could well prove to be a deciding factor in his career going forward.