MATCH STORY
Follow Us3 innings, 9 balls, 5 runs
1.7 average, 55.6 strike rate
These are Virat Kohli’s numbers in the ongoing 2024 T20 World Cup in the USA and West Indies. It has been an anti-climactic start to Kohli’s World Cup campaign post a prolific 2024 Indian Premier League (IPL) season where the right-hander won the Orange Cap.
After 1 against Ireland and 4 against Pakistan, Kohli was dismissed for a golden duck against the United States of America (USA) on Wednesday (June 12). Facing the second ball of the 111-run chase, at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York, Kohli edged a delivery from Saurabh Netravalkar to Andries Gous behind the stumps. It was his second golden duck this year, after a first-ball dismissal against Afghanistan in January 2024.
All three of Kohli’s dismissals this World Cup have followed an old pattern from his career - each of these deliveries were outside off stump, making the Delhite play away from his body.
Out to chase 97 against Ireland, Kohli slashed a wide delivery outside the stump to the third-man fielder. Against Pakistan, right after a gorgeous cover drive to get off the mark, Kohli miscued a square cut to backward point. Slashing at balls away from his reach with horizontal batted shots has never been Kohli’s strength, especially playing the square cut.
This time, although defending, the Delhi-born was again playing at a ball he could have left.
The dismissal epitomized his struggles against left-arm pacers in seaming conditions. Kohli expected the ball to move in, but it went straight with the angle to catch the edge. His habit of committing too soon on the front foot has caused his undoing plenty of times in these conditions.
It is important to consider the bowling-friendly conditions in New York, where India have played all of their three games thus far. Scoring runs has been next to impossible for the openers, who have averaged only 13.4 at this venue. In short, New York has been Kohli's kryptonite.
But there have been a few openers who have managed to score a few runs here, assessing these conditions. Rohit Sharma himself scored a match-winning 52 against Ireland. However, with Kohli, it has also been the case of following the template that brought him success in the IPL. He took on the pacers in the powerplay to get a head start.
The same thing has not worked in this World Cup. It is one of the things that highlights the difference between an intent-driven high-scoring 2024 IPL season and a low-scoring T20 World Cup to follow it.
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