BENGALURU: Former Indian captain Virat Kohli once again failed to come good as he was dismissed for just 17 runs by the left-arm bowler Reece Topley in the 3rd ODI against England at Old Trafford on Sunday.
The right-hand batsman started off confidently as he smacked three boundaries off David Willey. He began by reeling off a fine cut for four and then gathered two more boundaries by clipping him off his pads.
As he looked at ease, the hopes of him regaining the lost mojo soared. However, Topley – who had dismissed him in the last ODI as well – got the better of him yet again in the 9th over.
Kohli was undone by a delivery which was shaping away from him. As he tried to defend, it took a thin outside edge of his bat and the wicket-keeper Jos Buttler grabbed a simple catch. The batsman who once used to hammer hundreds for fun in the ODIs has been struggling for more than two years now. During this period, he has not scored a single international hundred.
On this England tour, Kohli managed only 11 & 20 in the Edgbaston Test. After that, he eked out scores of 1 & 11 in the two T20Is. In the ODI series, the 33-year-old scored 16 & 17 in the two ODIs.
His patchy form is now eliciting flak from former cricketers who are raising questions about his place in the team. Recently, former Indian all-rounder Kapil Dev said that Kohli could no longer be picked in the team on the basis of his past performances and reputation. Former batsman Ajay Jadeja feels Sachin Tendulkar should call up Virat and have a chat with him to clear cobwebs in his head.