India Vs England Semifinal: Virat Kohli Fails Again; What's Behind His Poor Form In T20WC 2024? - Watch

Virat Kohli's poor form continued in the ongoing ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2024 with him getting dismissed for just nine in the semifinal against England on Thursday. (Live Blog | Scorecard)

This is his fifth single-digit score in the competition and he has gotten past 10 just twice so far.

With just 75 runs across 7 innings in this World Cup, Kohli averages a mere 10.7 with a strike rate of only 100. Kohli's stats in the current edition of the tournament are in sharp contrast with his extra-ordinary numbers that he had amassed all through these years.

Three of the four highest averages achieved by a batsman in a single T20 World Cup edition are from Kohli. The former India captain averaged 106.33 in the 2014 tournament and followed it up with an even better average of 136.5 in the 2016 edition. In the 2022 T20 World Cup, Kohli averaged 98.66.

Not just has Kohli not been able to score a fifty for the first time in a T20 World Cup, but he has also been dismissed for two Ducks. Never before had the right-hander got out without scoring in a T20 World Cup game.

Kohli, the leading run-scorer in the T20 World Cups with 1216 runs, is really struggling to get going in the current edition. Let us take a closer look at what has changed.

Intent

There were reports of Kohli's place being in danger for the T20 World Cup ahead of the IPL 2024 due to his slow strike rate. The master that the 35-year-old is, he just not scored the most runs in the IPL, but also did it at a high strike rate.

He has tried to replicate the same in the World Cup but has not quite found the success like he did in the IPL.

In the T20 World Cups before this, Kohli took his time, judged the conditions and then exploded in the death overs. This time around, he has gone after the bowlers right from ball one.

The fact that he has hit five sixes and only two boundaries so far in this tournament is a testament to the changed aggressive approach.

Tough Tracks

The reason Kohli's approach has not worked could also be attributed to the tough pitches on which India played, especially early in the tournament.

India played their first three matches in New York, the toughest track in the competition. Kohli has opened and the new ball has been really helpful for the bowlers in New York.

Kohli tried to up the ante early on against Pakistan and Ireland and perished while a good Saurabh Netravalkar delivery had him caught behind against USA.

He finished the group stage with scores of 1,4 and 0.

In the Super 8s, India got better pitches and the runs began to trickle for Kohli. In the opening Super 8 game against Afghanistan he got 24 before gifting his wicket to Rashid Khan. In the Bangladesh game also, Kohli looked like getting a big score before jumping out of his crease to get bowled at 37.

Against Australia, a sharp bouncer from Josh Hazlewood was enough to trap Kohli on a Duck.

Against England in the semifinal, he again wanted to put the opposition under pressure but was bowled by Reece Topley on a tricky Guyana surface.

India have batted first in all their Super 8 games and that could be reason for Kohli not trying to adjust to the conditions and rather submitting to the aggressive approach that has not quite paid dividends for him.