Sanjay Manjrekar sees no end to Virat Kohli's struggles in England, makes bold claim on Indian skipper's form

Virat Kohli hasn't been at his usual best for quite sometime. His last international ton came in November 2019 and, since then, the 32-year-old has had some reasonable success in white-ball cricket but consistency, or a big score, has eluded him. On the other hand, Kohli averaged only 19.33 in Tests in 2020 and currently averages 27.15 in the ongoing calendar year.

In India's tour of United Kingdom so far, the Indian captain has managed to surpass the 50-run mark only once, including the WTC final. His scores in the England Tests are: 0, DNB, 42, 20, 7, 55. Thus, former England captain Nasser Hussain predicted toughtimes are ahead of the Indian captain, who remains unsure of his off-stump and is having problems against the deliveries pitched on the fourth-fifth stump-line.

A repeat of 2014?

Sanjay Manjrekar, India's former cricketer-turned-commentator, also opined on Kohli's form and made a bold claim on his struggles in England. In his column for Hindustan Times, he wrote, "Virat currently is grappling with his issue outside off, 2014 is coming back to haunt Virat and if he does not leave balls as he did in 2018, he is likely to be troubled the whole series. Or, he could not be so obsessed with getting onto the front foot no matter what and make his life easier and the bowlers’ more difficult. His front foot play is just making him graft more and even average bowlers who bowl around good length are making the great batter scavenge for runs."

Kohli-led India, meanwhile, will be desperate to take a 2-1 lead in the five-match Test series versus England when the fourth and penultimate Test begins from September 2 at Kennington Oval, London. After the first Test was drawn, India won the Lord's Test by 151 runs before losing the third Test by an innings and 76 runs to Joe Root-led hosts.