Kohli’s form a bothering point as India face Canada amid rain threat
Star batter Virat Kohli’s string of low scores would be a concern for India when they square off against Canada in their final group match of the T20 World Cup on Saturday, hoping that the sky remains clear in this city even as several parts of Florida are ravaged by torrential rain.
With three consecutive wins, India are through to the Super Eight stage, which will be held entirely in the West Indies.
Kohli came into the T20 World Cup after setting the IPL ablaze, scoring upwards of 700 runs at a strike-rate of over 150 for Royal Challengers Bengaluru.
Therefore, it wasn’t an entirely misplaced expectation that he will continue to fire in the ICC showpiece, which is perhaps his final chance to earn India an ICC World Cup after 13 years.
But three matches have gone by, and Kohli has five runs at an average of 1.66, including a ‘Golden Duck’ against the USA.
His form has provided an interesting subplot to the game against tournament-debutants Canada, which is otherwise inconsequential, at least for India.
Perhaps, an 1850km trip from New York to Florida might bring with it a turnaround in fortunes for Kohli, who must be hurting after those ordinary outings.
The pitch at the Broward County stadium might not be as spiteful as the one in New York, where the uneven bounce of the tracks and the slow nature of the outfield became bigger talking points than the cricket that was played.
What would ease some pressure on him is the fact that that the lean run has not really affected the team’s fortunes.
However, the premier batter’s low scores, particularly since he is opening alongside skipper Rohit Sharma, has put some pressure on the subsequent batters to take the India board forward.
Creditably, Rishabh Pant and Suryakumar Yadav have more than made up for Kohli.
Pant made 36 and 42 against Ireland and Pakistan, good enough contributions for India to emerge victors.
Suryakumar overcame a diffident start to the tournament just at the right time, making a crucial fifty against the USA. ‘Spin Basher’ Shivam Dube has been on a tailspin since his arrival in the US, but a laboured 31 off 35 balls against the co-hosts might just have fetched him another game ahead of the waiting Sanju Samson and Yashasvi Jaiswal.
Kohli came into the T20 World Cup after setting the IPL ablaze, scoring upwards of 700 runs at a strike-rate of over 150 for RCB