India Vs West Indies: Virat Kohli's Four-Ball Innings At Motera A Worrying Sign, Say Cricket Pundits

One of Virat Kohli's biggest qualities as a batsman is that he always puts a hefty price on his wicket. But the batting giant’s latest failure against the West Indies in the first ODI in Ahmedabad on Sunday has got pundits talking for the wrong reasons. Doubts and questions on Virat Kohli's mindset are doing the rounds. (More Cricket News)

In the pre-COVID times, Virat Kohli throwing his wicket was a rare sight. But this seems to have become very common now. While Kohli has found it hard to match his lofty standards in the recent past, he himself has found ways to get out many times. Chasing a wide delivery outside off-stump is just one of Kohli's latest weaknesses. 

Kohli's form and mindset have not been questioned much in the past two years as he scored at a good rate in the white-ball formats despite his 71st international century eluding him.

Kohli averages 42.50 in ODIs since his last international hundred more than two years ago and 59.76 in T20 Internationals in the same time frame. But averages are averages and in a demanding world, can mislead too.

Virat Kohli’s short innings against West Indies at Motera on Sunday certainly gave his critics another chance to wonder about what is actually going inside his mind.

The former captain didn’t look his usual self and fancied all the shots before top-edging a hook to Kemar Roach at long leg. It gave Alzzari Joseph his second big wicket after Rohit Sharma.

"He came out as if he was in a hurry," said Aakash Chopra to ESPNcricinfo. “The first ball he tried something, the second ball he tried something else. These are extravagant shots that you don’t expect Kohli to play.

"That four-ball inning was very surprising. It perhaps tells you that he is not exactly in the right frame of mind," said the former Test batsman, who works as a cricket pundit. 

Meanwhile, legendary India batsman Sunil Gavaskar feels that bowling bouncers to Kohli is one of the strategies of the opponent teams and that Kohli likes to take the challenge.

“I thought that even the South Africans seemed to be looking to do in one-day cricket maybe not so much in Test cricket, to try and bounce Virat Kohli.

"Because he is one of those batsman who does not really duck. Kohli loves to play the hook shot, which is one where you cannot really be in control,” Gavaskar has been quoted as saying.

The former opener advised Kohli to play bouncers with more caution in the remaining matches. The second India versus West Indies ODI will be played on Wednesday in Ahmedabad.