Border Gavaskar Trophy: Can Virat Kohli regain his form ahead of the Australia series?

Virat Kohli is regarded as one of the best batsmen in international cricket, with the second-most hundreds after India's legendary batter Sachin Tendulkar, who holds the record with 100 centuries. Kohli is the only active Indian player with more than 50 centuries to his name. However, recently, the star batter has been out of form since his match-winning knock against South Africa in the final of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024. Despite receiving ample rest after the T20 World Cup, the ace batter from the Indian national cricket team has been struggling to score runs. In the ODI series against Sri Lanka, Kohli has been dismissed by a Sri Lankan spinner three times, leading to India losing the 3-match ODI series 2-0 after the first match ended in a tie.

Virat Kohli is one of the key players in the Indian team, capable of single-handedly leading the team to victory on any given day, as seen in the final of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup. In that match, India was 34-3, but Kohli not only managed to handle the pressure but also formed a crucial 72-run partnership for the fourth wicket with all-rounder Axar Patel. 

Prior to this game, Kohli had been criticized for his shot selection and his inability to score as quickly as batters like Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, and Rishabh Pant. However, as the saying goes, great players never truly go out of form; they just wait for the right stage and time. Kohli found his moment in the final, scoring 76 runs off 59 balls, including six boundaries and two sixes. His outstanding performance earned him the Player of the Match award.

Kohli's experience was instrumental in ending India's 17-year-long ICC Men’s T20 World Cup title drought. Nevertheless, the Indian team management and captain will be expecting similar performances from him before the start of the series against Australia, where Rohit Sharma's team will play a 5-match Test series starting on 22nd November as part of the ICC World Test Championship. This series will be crucial for the Indian team, which has dominated the last three Border-Gavaskar Trophy series with consecutive wins since 2016. However, Australia will be hoping to change that narrative through a collective team effort.

Before traveling to Australia for the marquee event, the Indian team will play a couple of home Test series, first against Bangladesh and then New Zealand. Considering the importance of India’s upcoming tour, all eyes will be on Virat Kohli, who will be part of the 2-match Test series against Bangladesh, providing him with a perfect opportunity to regain his prime form. Currently, the Indian team is leading the 2-match Test series against Bangladesh after winning the opening game by a margin of 280 runs. However, Virat Kohli struggled in the first match, scoring just 6 and 7 runs in the respective innings.

India will play the second Test of the series starting on 27th September at Green Park in Kanpur. After the Bangladesh series, Rohit Sharma and his team will face New Zealand in another home Test series next month.