Virat Kohli’s failure: Virat Kohli has been immense in the last few years and has emerged as one of the best batsmen to grace the game. While there are a lot of batsmen in the same category as him such as the likes of Kane Williamson, Joe Root and Steve Smith, but what sets the India captain aside is his ability to convert his scores into big ones.
What makes a player big is his ability to take on the responsibility and finish games once you have set yourself in, a quality Virat Kohli has imbibed in abundance and has been one of the standout players when it comes to finishing games.
Kohli enjoys one of the best conversion rates in the game. At 43.16, Kohli’s conversion rate is only second to David Warner. Kohli has got 41 100s from 225 innings. Compare that with the other members of the Fab four, and you will know a marked difference in class. The trip of Kane Williamson, Joe Root and Steve Smith have 37 ODI centuries between them from over 350 innings. Kohli also enjoys the most 100s while chasing-24 and comfortably has the best average in run chases- of 68.14.
The next two active Indians on the list are Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma, with conversion rates of 38.64 and 37.31 respectively. One of the two isn’t a part of the team anymore and the other experienced batsman in the team isn’t close to his best.
Virat Kohli’s failure: Virat Kohli had been in such form and so good that every time he batted, a new record was broken or created. However, a look at the 2019 Cricket World Cup and the stats aren’t the same anymore.
While the other three in the fab four have 4 centuries to their name, Kohli is yet to get one, despite scoring five consecutive 50+ scores. While Kohli has got the runs in the World Cup and stand at 7th in the list with 382 runs, his failure to convert any of his 5 100s in the 6 innings, is a cause of worry for the team. Virat Kohli’s failure:
After the departure of Shikhar Dhawan, the lion’s share of responsibility of India’s batting has fallen on the shoulders of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. With Shikhar Dhawan gone and KL Rahul adopting a cautious approach, Kohli has had to not just score big to take off the pressure of the middle order, he is also forced to play more attackingly to get India going and build momentum for the middle order and the lower middle order. Although Kohli enjoys pressure, but this is a different situation which demands him to even at times, change his natural style of play. This could be one of the reasons for Kohli’s failure to convert being forced into playing a shot too many.
In all of Kohli’s dismissals where he has gone past 50, one thing has stood out, which is the fact that he has got out trying to play a shot too many. On none of the occasions has he got out, being genuinely beaten or deceived by the bowler. For a batsman of the calibre of Kohli, this is rather disappointing, but he needs some assistance from the others around him.
For India to go far and get their hands on the trophy, Kohli would hold the key and would need to bat longer and convert his 50s into 100s and big ones when the situation demands. For that to happen, the middle order and the lower middle order need to take more responsibility and authority and take off the pressure of Kohli which shall let him pace his innings in his own way and carve his way to yet another century, and a possible record in the making.
Kohli would need to relook into his approach and should be helped by the addition of Rishabh Pant and now Mayank Agarwal, who are both naturally aggressive and can allow Kohli to build his innings his own way. Mayank is likely to be drafted in the team at the top of the order to allow for a brisk start, Pant could be another aggressor in the middle order who could add impetus to the innings when needed.
With all this support coming along, expect Kohli to strike a century or two soon!
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