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Posted 2 years ago

Cricket General

2 probable reasons for Kohli’s loss of form

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While the conversation has hovered around the reasons for the delay in scoring his 71^st international century, there are now more widespread concerns about the performance of Virat Kohli.

As a player who has mastered all formats of the game, there can be no doubts cast as to his talent or contributions in the field of cricket. However, there has been a distinct drop in his form, and the reasons – as it generally turns out to be for top players – is a combination of technical and psychological factors.

Such slumps are often started off by technical errors. They may be rooted out soon enough, but if they persist, it can manifest psychological effects as well.

This is much tougher to handle as players are then faced with the dual task of surmounting a technical and a psychological barrier. If anyone can overcome such a phase, it is Kohli, who is known for his fighting spirit and perseverance.

The technical aspects of Kohli’s form are potentially related to the long front-foot stride, and a weak back-foot game.

However, there have been very successful players with some faulty techniques – a player does not need to be perfect. This suggests that the issues at hand surpass simply a technical aspect. The long breaks due to Covid-10 could be a another factor, and it is difficult to assess if an extended break could help or further harm his form.

Kohli has also experimented with the manner of his play at the start of new innings. This has deviated from the tried and tested methods that characterized his earlier play. This is exacerbated by the fact, that he is able to score a decent number of runs.

If his techniques yielded scores that were much worse, it would have been easier to diagnose the underlying issues. So, while he continues to score, he has been unable to reach his former heights.

Perhaps the greatest challenge has been the expectations set by Kohli, with his performances in the past. It remains to be seen if he can climb out of this dip, to recreate his old magic again.