Virat Kohli Out Of Form: Virat Kohli has just one half-century in his last 20 Test innings

Virat Kohli‘s form, or lack thereof, in Test cricket is nearly inexcusable at this point. Kohli hasn’t made a century in the longest version of the game in over three years, a format he admits he prefers more than any other. Virat Kohli has achieved a half-century in his past 20 Test innings, far from a century. In the last 14 months, he has only batted over 100 deliveries twice in Test cricket.

Virat Kohli appeared depressed ahead of the Asia Cup last year, failing to contribute significantly with the bat in all three forms. But, as he pointed out, a break before the continental competition let him rediscover the “excitement” of playing cricket.

Virat Kohli was able to rediscover his groove in white-ball cricket. His maiden T20I century, albeit against Afghanistan in the Asia Cup, let him end an almost 4-year wait for an international century. Kohli then went on to deliver one of the greatest innings in T20I cricket, helping India claw victory from the jaws of defeat against Pakistan in a T20 World Cup match in Melbourne on that wonderful evening.

A few months later, Virat Kohli regained his ODI form, striking three hundreds in a matter of weeks. One may argue that Kohli’s century in restricted overs have come against somewhat weaker bowling attacks, but he has managed to show hints of his classic self and position himself to face more difficult tests.

In Test cricket, though, Kohli has been far from outstanding. A lot was expected of him going into the series in Bangladesh with some white-ball runs under his belt, but the former captain struggled to convert his starts into huge hits, getting out against both spin and pace in the two-match series.

In the first three Tests of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, Virat Kohli has been out to rookie Australia spinners as many as five times, scoring only 111 runs. Todd Murphy, who made his debut in Nagpur, has so tormented Kohli that stand-in skipper Steve Smith turned to him as Kohli stepped out to bat on Day 1 morning in Indore. Murphy took Kohli’s wicket in the first innings, extending his record against the former World No. 1 hitter to three. Matthew Kuhnemann, who is only two Tests old, has already got him out twice.