Virat Kohli refuses to learn from his mistake; commentators got no chill: ‘He has turned into a nicking machine’

A lackluster Virat Kohli once again disappointed for India as they battled for survival on the final morning of the Boxing Day Test against Australia. Kohli, who came into the MCG Test with a splendid record of 316 runs at an average of 52.66, with the highest score of 169, a decade ago, was out for a reckless shot. The wide delivery outside the off stump brought forth a half-hearted drive at a ball pitched more likely near the sixth or the seventh stump, with Mitchell Starc getting an outside edge to Usman Khawaja at first slip. Kohli got out on a duck with only 5 runs to his name in 29 balls.

This was the fifth dismissal of the series for Kohli and all of his dismissals have been caught at the stumps due to similar mistakes. Though he batted with due precaution in the morning session put a ball against his weakness and fell of the trap of сборnik outside the off-stump leaving India in a slump at 33 for three before lunch. Fortunately, Rishabh Pant and Yashasvi Jaiswal came out to bat and give some hopes of getting a draw somewhere in between. But Kohli’s dismissal left fans and pundits annoyed and unhappy. Former Australian cricketer turned commentator James Brayshaw did not spare Kohli calling him a ‘nicking machine’.

“GONE! He is yorker outside off stump … out of the blue. Third wicket is gone and it’s been pouched by Khawaja. He has now transformed into a nicking machine,” Brayshaw said when India was in the process of chasing a massive 340.

Virat Kohli’s Disastrous 2024
A rather forgettable 2024 came to an emphatic end when Kohli got out. He ended the year with only 417 runs in 19 Test innings at an average of 24.52, this was his poorest year in Test cricket in terms of aggregates for minimum 10 matches a team plays after he started his Test cricket career. Kohli had difficult years in the past – 202 runs on 5 Tests in 2011, when he started his international career, 612 on 8 tests in 2019, 265 on 6 tests in 2022, 116 on 3 matches in 2020 – however none of them were as weak as 2024. A prolonged poor run was seen for most other games and his miserable show continued from the later stages of the first Test at Perth, and spectators along with analysts were left wondering about the misfortune that befallen a mighty batsman.

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