For the past few years, cricketer Virat Kohli has been the Indian team’s leading match-winner. His exceptional contribution to Indian cricket established him as a star long ago. Fans of the Indian cricket team used to expect Sachin Tendulkar to play match-winning innings in the 1990s and 2000s. Similarly, Team India fans now want Kohli to perform admirably with the bat in every key game.
However, Kohli’s detractors have always pounced on him for his poor performance with the bat in big games. In the present Asia Cup, Kohli gave Shaheen Shah Afridi his prized scalp with four runs in the Group A encounter against Pakistan at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium. Following this failure, the batting master was heavily chastised for his weak batting stats in crucial matches.
Cricketer Virat Kohli fails under pressure:
5. India v/s New Zealand- 2021:
India qualified for the 2021 World Test Championship (WTC) final against New Zealand in Southampton after playing positive Test cricket for two years from 2019 to 2021. Kohli, the team’s captain at the time, was expected to lead the squad from the front and lead India to their first title in the showpiece red-ball competition.
In the crucial game, New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson won the toss and chose to bat first against India. India got off to a good start, with Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill putting on 62 runs for the first wicket. However, following the dismissal of the top-order batters, Kohli’s task was to play a large knock so that India could post a competitive score against the West Indies.
The batting master lasted more than three hours at the crease but was eventually removed for 44 runs. Following his dismissal, India faltered and folded at 217. India had a chance to make a comeback in the game in the second innings since they were only 32 runs behind after the first innings, and a strong batting performance may have helped them beat the Blac Caps.
However, the Indian batters fell once more in the second inning. They were bundled out on 170 this time, and Kohli also succumbed on 13. The veteran’s failure to perform cost India an embarrassing eight-wicket defeat at the hands of Williamson and his guys.
4. India versus Australia- 2023:
Following the 2021 WTC final thrashing, India played a competitive brand of Test cricket from 2021 through 2023, reaching the WTC final again in 2023. They met Australia, captained by Pat Cummins, at the Oval this time. Because of the more familiar English conditions, Australia was considered the favoured to win the prestigious mace before of the match.
To compete with the spirited Australian side, India needed the top-tier services of captain Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli in the game. India captain Rohit Sharma won the toss and elected to bat first. Australia scored 469 runs, led by Travis Head’s 163 and Steven Smith’s 121.
Following the total, Indian openers Rohit and Shubman Gill were both out early. Kohli needed to spend time in the middle and make significant runs after the early dismissals. Mitchell Starc, on the other hand, stepped up in the crucial match and bowled a bouncer to India’s best batter, dismissing him on 14.
After a no-show in the first inning, the 34-year-old batted in the second. Following the enormous total of 444, India was three down and all eyes were on Kohli once more. The seasoned batsman exhibited confidence this time by hitting some confident strokes. His innings ended on 49 after Scott Boland bowled him towards the off-stump and he attempted to play a cover drive, but the ball fell into the safe hands of Steven Smith, who was placed at second slip.
3. India v/s Pakistan- 2017:
Kohli has an outstanding batting record against Pakistan. The batting great has played 14 One-Day Internationals (ODIs) against the Men in Green, scoring 540 runs and hitting two tonnes. Because both sides haven’t played each other in bilateral events for a long time, every India-Pakistan encounter has grown in importance.
Both teams faced off against each other twice during the 2017 Champions Trophy. In the group encounter, India defeated Sarfaraz Ahmed’s side by 124 runs, and Kohli also ran through Pakistan’s bowling attack, scoring 81 runs off 68 deliveries.
Both teams met again in the final match at the Oval, but this time Pakistan dominated with a clear 180-run victory. Following the disciplined performance of the batting, Pakistan bowlers were faced with defending a massive total of 338. Mohammad Amir, Pakistan’s main bowler, was relentless against the Men in Blue, scalping Rohit Sharma on the third delivery of his spell.
With Rohit’s dismissal, India was under enormous pressure to stay in the hunt, but Kohli’s presence on the crease provided some relief to fans. However, it was Amir who caught Kohli in the gully on five and enabled his team to complete the match’s dominance over India.
2. India versus Australia- 2015 World Cup:
India, along with hosts Australia, were favourites to win the World Cup in 2015. The Men in Blue won all of their group matches and finished first on the table with 12 points. MS Dhoni and his team qualified for the semi-finals against Michael Clarke’s Australia after playing great cricket for more than a month.
In the big game, Australian batsmen pounced on bowlers and scored 328 runs after 50 overs. To win the match, India’s batters had to perform admirably in pursuit of the big target. Top-order hitters Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, and cricketer Virat Kohli were expected to win the match.
India scored 76 runs before the conclusion of 13 overs, thanks to a strong start from openers Dhawan and Rohit. Dhawan was bowled out for 45 by Josh Hazlewood, and Kohli strode into the middle to face the great Aussie bowlers. In the high-stakes game, the top-order batter was defeated by Mitchell Johnson on one run after 13 pitches. Kohli’s poor performance ultimately cost India the knockout game by 95 runs.
1. Cricketer Virat Kohli during India v/s New Zealand- 2019:
Virat Kohli looked assured as captain in the 2019 World Cup, leading his team to the semi-finals. Along with his captaincy, he demonstrated his batting prowess in the competition, scoring 443 runs in nine games with a strike rate of 94.05. With these figures, he finished as India’s second-leading run-getter in the flagship event.
However, when his batting contribution was most needed, he couldn’t keep his cool and disappointed his team’s fans. After a solid round-robin performance, India advanced to the Old Trafford Cricket Ground semi-final against Kane Williamson’s New Zealand.
Captain Kane Williamson and veteran Ross Taylor used their expertise to deliver efficient knocks of 67 and 74 runs, respectively, to help their team record 239 runs on the board in the knockout game. Following New Zealand’s innings, India was expected to easily win the match, as they had appeared confident throughout the competition.
The Kiwi bowlers demonstrated steely grit to successfully defend the average total, resulting in an 18-run triumph for their squad. The attack on the Indian team began with Rohit Sharma’s dismissal on one in the second over. Kohli, the captain of the squad, was also out for one by left-handed pacer Trent Boult, who was leading the Kiwi team’s fast-bowling unit.
So, this was all about the Indian Cricketer Virat Kohli. Also read, BIG BREAKING! YouTuber IShowSpeed insults MS Dhoni.
