Kohli’s poor form in World Cup semifinals continues

Rohit Mahajan

Tribune News Service

Manchester, July 10

Virat Kohli has made 11 runs from three semifinals in the World Cup. He’s acutely aware of this painful fact.

Kohli would like to analyse his dismissals in the World Cup semifinals; in 2015, the pressure got to him. Mitchell Starc had bowled beautifully at him, the 15th over of the innings, pinning Kohli to the crease, making him fend the ball. Kohli tried to hit his way out of trouble — he attacked the next ball he faced, this one from Mitchell Johnson, who gave him a hit-me ball. Kohli hit it but was dismissed.

In the 2011 semifinal at Mohali, Kohli jabbed at a Wahab Riaz ball that was angled across and hit it to point.

Three World Cup semifinals, three failures, three dismissals to left-arm pace bowlers. In the 2017 Champions Trophy final too, Kohli had failed, making five runs before falling to yet another left-arm paceman, Mohammad Amir of Pakistan.

Kohli said he was aware of his failures in the knockout matches at ICC events. “It’s very disappointing, not turning up when the team wanted me. Obviously, it feels bad. Everyone gets disappointed when they get out so it was a natural reaction,” he said.

Dhoni inches short

An inch higher, and Kohli would not have been given out LBW. And an inch or two further up on the pitch, and MS Dhoni wouldn’t have been run out.

Ironically, Dhoni, the best runner on the field today, was run-out by a direct hit from Martin Guptill. Kohli later said that Dhoni had not said anything about retiring from ODI cricket; but if this were to be Dhoni’s last dismissal in ODI cricket, it would be a sad way of going away for India’s greatest ODI captain; a failed India chase would hurt too, for Dhoni was regarded as the King of the Chase when at his pomp.

3 Times Virat Kohli has been dismissed by left-arm pacers in World Cup semifinals — by Pakistan’s Wahab Riaz for 9 runs in 2011; by Australia’s Mitchell Johnson for 1 run in 2015, by New Zealand’s Trent Boult for 1 run in 2019)

"It’s very disappointing, not turning up when the team wanted me. Obviously, it feels bad."— Virat Kohli