India vs Australia: Virat Kohli’s horrid home Test run continues, superstar batter faces litmus Test in Delhi

Kohli’s Test numbers since 2020

Since the start of 2020, Kohli, the 15th ranked Test player in the world, has played 21 Test matches and scored 929 runs at an average of 25.80. The period has seen him play eight Test matches in India where he has managed to score 301 runs at an average of 25.08. In the first Test match of the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia in Nagpur, the 34-year-old chased a Todd Murphy delivery which was drifting towards leg-side only to end up giving catch to wicket-keeper Alex Carey. He scored 12 runs during his 26-ball stay at the crease.

Kohli’s recent struggle against Spin

The Delhi batter has been dismissed 30 times since January 2021. Spinners have got the better of him as many as 13 times. In India, he has lost his wicket 10 times during the period. Eight times he has lost his wicket to spinners, and only twice against pacers. Left-arm spinners Moeen Ali, Jack Leach, Lasith Embuldeniya, Praveen Jayawickrama and off-spinners Dom Bess, Dhananjaya de Silva and now Murphy – all have found success against the superstar batter.

In his last two away matches in Bangladesh, Kohli lost his wicket two out of three times to a spinner. Interestingly, an off-spinner in Mehidy Hasan Miraz and a left-arm spinner in Taijul Islam were the ones to take his wickets.

Kohli’s faces litmus Test at home ground in Delhi

Kohli will be playing his first Test in Delhi since December 2017. A lot has changed during the period. The 34-year-old was the captain of the team when he last walked in to bat in the Indian capital and scored 243 and 50 runs in the first and second innings respectively. He is no more the captain, and the name of the ground has also changed from Feroz Shah Kotla to Arun Jaitley Stadium. However, Kohli has a stand on his name and that would hopefully inspire him to stand tall in the litmus test he is about to face.

After the innings and 132-run drubbing in Nagpur, world number one Australia have been forced to go back to the drawing boards. Matthew Kuhnemann is en route to Delhi with his Queensland teammate Mitchell Swepson heading home for the birth of his first child. The left-arm spinner has a chance of featuring alongside Nathan Lyon and Murphy of another turning track is placed in front of the visitors. Left-arm spinner Ashton Agar is also an option. Further, Mitchell Starc is also expected to arrive in Delhi by Sunday. He has progressed well with his finger injury and would be raring to pull his team out of the mess if given a chance.

Not sure about the batting unit, but Australia look set to ramp up their bowling unit. Kohli might have kept his number four spot intact without any trouble or major debate, but a few more failures would surely see fingers being pointed at him. He, hopefully, would be making note of all the developments to welcome the visitors in the most apt fashion at his home.