Published By: Rohit Chatterjee

Fans Troll Virat Kohli for Quick Dismissal but His Last Few Test Scores Aren’t Too Poor

In the first session, Kohli was dismissed for six runs

India got off to a jerky start on day one against Bangladesh in the ongoing Test being played in Chennai at the MA Chidambaram Stadium. The Men in Blue lost an early wicket, getting reduced to nearly 120/4 before the first session ended.

Captain Rohit Sharma went back to the pavilion for six runs, whereas youngster Shubman Gill got out for a duck. However, the internet is full of trolls against Virat Kohli, who also got out for only six runs, having played six balls.

One user wrote, "Londoner unable to bat on overcast London like conditions," whereas another added, "Kohli saab it'll be genuinely disrespectful for yourself if you end your test career with a mid 40's average. Start treating Bangladesh like Bangladesh."

Fans' anger is understandable, given that Kohli is a superstar figure in the world of cricket. Not to forget, Bangladesh is not considered one of the strongest on the circuit, and therefore, he should have stayed longer on the pitch. However, is trolling and asking Kohli to retire justified? After all, it is not about the performance of a player in one match or series. The question is, how has Kohli been in the last few Test matches?

India Tour of South Africa

In December 2023, India went on a South Africa tour. The first match of the two-Test series did not go in India's favour, as South Africa won the game by an innings and 32 runs. In the first innings, while all the batters failed, KL Rahul scored 101 runs and was India's sole star. However, Virat Kohli and Shreyas Iyer added 38 runs and 31 runs, respectively.

The second innings was the worst for India, as only two batters could hit double-digit scores. Shubman Gill scored 26 runs, whereas Kohli, with his 76 runs, tried to anchor India's innings.

The second game of the series was won by India by seven wickets. In the first innings, Virat Kohli was the highest run contributor with 46 runs, but sadly, in the second innings, he scored 12. Nonetheless, only Virat Kohli had displayed a glimpse of consistency on the foreign soil.

India Tour of West Indies

2023 also witnessed India visiting the West Indies for a two-Test series, with India winning the first game by an innings and 141 runs. Yashasvi Jaiswal's 171 and Rohit Sharma's 103 stole the show, but Virat Kohli also managed to hog a little limelight by scoring 76 runs in the first innings.

The second match turned out to be a more fruitful event for Kohli, who scored 121 runs, the highest from the Indian line-up in the first innings. In the second innings, Kohli did not bat.

The game ended in a draw.

World Test Championship Final 2023

India lost two finals at the hands of Australia in 2023. Apart from the ICC World Cup 2023, India also lost the World Test Championship Final. In the first innings, Kohli had a poor outing, with only 14 runs coming off his bat, but in the second innings, he added a crucial 49-run knock to change India's fortunes. Unfortunately, it was not enough to register a win.

Even in the Australia tour of India in February 2023, which included four Test matches, Virat Kohli was the second highest run getter with 297 runs, and India had won the series 2-1. Indeed, 2023 was not one of Kohli's best in the Test, but it wasn't poor either.

Fans are angry with the fact that Kohli had an option to play in the Duleep Trophy but he chose not to and only landed in Chennai five days before the first Test. His ODI outing against Sri Lanka wasn't great either, having scored only 58 runs in three matches.

However, this phase seems to be another rough one Kohli is having, but the 35-year-old has definitely not reached a point where he should retire from the format. In fact, given he has retired from T20I, the workload of Kohli has reduced, and we can expect him to find his form back soon, as he has done on multiple occasions.