On Friday, former India skipper Virat Kohli registered a duck – his 31st duck in international cricket – during the second ODI against South Africa in Paarl. It was handed to him by left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj, the first instance of Kohli getting out for a duck to a spinner in ODI cricket.
It was though a mistake from Virat Kohli himself that led to his 5-ball duck. Coming in after the dismissal of Shikhar Dhawan at the score of 63/1, Kohli was expected to build on the start and take India to command position, especially after he failed to carry on his fifty in the first ODI.
However, it wasn’t to be today. The right-hander looked iffy in his short stay and has played two false shots before the dismissal. Maharaj pitched a delivery that turned away from Kohli on the off-stump to which the batter went for a lofted shot aiming the cover boundary.
The ball stopped in the pitch eliciting a mistimed shot from Kohli. Beaten on timing, Kohli’s bottom hand came off the handle and he couldn’t keep the shot down as the ball lobbed straight to Temba Bavuma at cover.
Maharaj looked up in the sky – he knew the enormity of Kohli’s wicket – while the batsman, Kohli, who once used to churn out runs for fun, trudged back to the dressing room with his head down leaving India in a pickle at 64/2.
This left fans shocked as Kohli had shown pristine touch in the first ODI and in the third Test in Cape Town with fifties in both those games. Some fans wondered that Kohli is down on intensity following the resignation as Test captain at the end of the series loss.
A senior journalist, K Shriniwas Rao, had an interesting viewpoint on Virat Kohli’s 5-ball duck. He stated that while even the best of the batsmen have gone through a slump, Kohli didn’t show the anger and frustration today that he used to after getting out.
Shriniwas Rao, who had broken the Kohli’s T20I captaincy resignation story last year, felt that the former India captain has toned down his emotions after giving up the captaincy. He reckons Kohli should get back his ultra-high aggression, and then perhaps we can see the best of Kohli again.
“It’s not the duck that’s troubling. Greatest of batsmen have faced it. Virat is no exception. He got a brilliant fifty in the last game anyway. It’s the lack of anger on his face, he not cussing himself for playing that shot, not emoting the way he does — that’s troubling,” the renowned journalist tweeted.
It’s not the duck that’s troubling.
Greatest of batsmen have faced it. Virat is no exception. He got a brilliant fifty in the last game anyway.
It’s the lack of anger on his face, he not cussing himself for playing that shot, not emoting the way he does — that’s troubling.
— KSR (@KShriniwasRao) January 21, 2022
For a minute the mind just went blank. This is so unlike Virat.
— KSR (@KShriniwasRao) January 21, 2022
