Former India cricketer Dinesh Karthik feels that Virat Kohli should go back to the domestic cricket route to gain form in the red-ball format. Karthik expressed his concerns over Virat Kohli’s struggles with spin and his inability to perform in the ongoing Test series against New Zealand. Kohli delivered a disappointing performance in the 2nd Test against New Zealand in Pune as India suffered a series defeat after 12 years on home soil. Kohli managed to score just 1 and 17 in two innings and was dismissed by left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner on both occasions.

“Virat Kohli hasn’t had it easy, the series hasn’t been good for him, he’s been disappointing in three outs of four innings. He’s obviously a regular partner with the spinners troubling him and I think he’ll go and figure out what to do.” There’s something he needs to do to come out stronger. He’s a man looking for answers. Once you reach this level of genius and super fame, you will be presented with challenges and that’s how India likes to play on pitches that help in turning. , what is the game plan?,” said Dinesh Karthik while talking to Cricbuzz.

Kohli’s record vs spin

Kohli has a worrying record against spin, in 50 innings since 2021, Kohli has been dismissed 24 times against spin and has averaged 33.38 in the format. July 2023 was when Kohli hit his last Test ton, his 29th. The veteran batsman would be aiming to make a comeback in the 3rd and final Test to salvage some pride for his team.

“We don’t want to sugarcoat it.”

Dinesh gave a reality check that Kohli hasn’t scored big runs in the Test format since a long time.

“We all know what he is capable of, this series should not have been like this. He hasn’t done this in a long time as the fans say and we cannot escape from that. We don’t want to cover it up because right now we want to be objective while evaluating any player, any performance. Virat Kohli’s last 2- His Test record in 3 years was not good against spin,” said Karthik.