For someone who once epitomised batting excellence across formats, Kohli’s recent slump has been heartbreaking to witness. Having once taken off above the Fab Four, an average of 31.67 in the last five years screams anything but greatness.

The lack of runs can be attributed to age, waning reflexes, or even external pressures, but a critical factor in Kohli’s case also seems to be an unwillingness to adapt his game to counter a glaring weakness.

During the Gabba Test, Mitchell Starc sent down a full delivery outside the off-stump. Kohli went chasing, unable to get any contact. Soon after, Josh Hazlewood delivered a ball around the sixth stump line. Playing away from his body and leaving a gap between bat and pad, Kohli edged to the wicketkeeper, his average plummeting to an eight-year low.

Kohli’s career was built on playing the cover drive with surgical precision. On the front foot, the back foot. Till three years ago, it was Kohli’s second-most productive shot of his career. So, how has it reached a phase where Sunil Gavaskar is asking, almost pleading, with him to delete the cover drive?

He has a natural tendency to play the drive, which often results in loose shots against wide deliveries. Bowlers have exploited this by targeting anything away from the fourth stump line, forcing him to drive. When the ball moves away, Kohli is vulnerable to edging to the slip cordon. His failure to judge length over line has compounded the issue, making a stronger case for leaving such deliveries instead.

Kohli’s off-side judgement is also what brought him immense success following a poor tour to England in 2014, where he averaged 13.50 in ten innings. On his next tour, he batted outside his crease to negate late swing, averaging 59.30 and outscoring the second-highest run-getter, Jos Buttler, by nearly 250 runs. Kohli’s switch to a more side-on stance post-2014 worked wonders, improving his average against deliveries in the channel from 28 to 92.

Cricviz explained the changes that Kohli had made in detail. At the start of his career, he maintained a narrow and open stance at the crease, which opened up the legside for him. However, it also left him vulnerable on the off stump, and he averaged 28 in the channel in his first four years of international cricket.

Following the 2014 tour of England, Kohli adjusted to a more side-on stance, relying on his hand speed and his ability to pick up the length early as he forced his toe towards point rather than cover. This shift fetched immense results, as his average against deliveries in the channel shot up to 92.

In 2021, during the England tour, Kohli started struggling against balls coming back in. Bowlers started swinging and seaming the ball back into Kohli and targeting the stumps. A closed-off stance did not help, and in a move to counter the weakness, Kohli adopted a more open stance as he continued to bat outside his crease. This, however, resurfaced his issues outside off and has led to him outside-edging more than ever.

Virat Kohli looked set to finish in Test cricket's greatest-ever bracket. With a slump now extending nearly five years, he's likely to fall below the mark by the time he's done.

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Out of his last 10 dismissals in SENA countries, Kohli has nicked off eight times. He was out slogging once at Centurion while he was strangled down the leg side in the second innings of the Cape Town Test. Among the eight nick-offs, he has been caught at slips five times and has edged to the wicketkeeper thrice. A further breakdown will reveal another concerning pattern. Kohli has fallen while fending back of length balls thrice and defending on the front foot on two occasions. He has been committing to the front foot even against shorter balls that can be played on the back foot.

Is ditching the cover drive really the solution?

Much has been said about Sachin Tendulkar’s iconic unbeaten 241 in Sydney, where he refrained from playing the cover drive. However, Kohli’s struggles run deeper and cannot be solved by simply avoiding a particular shot. The crux of the issue lies in his limited backfoot game. He can play the pull but will benefit by adding the backfoot cut and punch - if he were to expand his scoring options on the back foot, he wouldn’t have to rely so heavily on his cover drive to accumulate runs. Also, Tendulkar, unlike Kohli, had a more all-round game and he had the luxury of veering away from a shot altogether. Another conveniently forgotten fact is that the surface on which Tendulkar made the double hundred was as flat as it could get. And despite all his troubles, Kohli has not had issues scoring in flatter, easier conditions.

Currently, bowlers have identified a clear pattern: they keep Kohli quiet by bowling slightly back of a length, then tempt him with a wider delivery, knowing he will chase it. With additional scoring avenues off the backfoot, Kohli could disrupt this predictable strategy. While there have been glimpses of adaptability, such as using the sweep in T20s and against New Zealand in Bengaluru, the evolution has been limited.

Comparisons with Steve Smith provide an interesting contrast here. Smith, another batting giant of this era, has shown remarkable adaptability in tweaking his stance, triggers, and overall technique to counter declining returns. Whether it’s altering his guard to eliminate any pre-delivery movement or adjusting away from a “close to perfection” method when it wasn’t paying results, Smith’s willingness to reinvent himself has helped him stay ahead of the curve.

Another layer to this issue is the role of coaches in the Indian team, particularly concerning Kohli. It often appears as though they have little influence over his game, or perhaps Kohli himself is resistant to their input. While it is somewhat understandable - after all, he ascended to the top relying on his methods, even the best players some times benefit from outer perspectives. It raises questions about whether more proactive coaching could help him address his current struggles.

Cricket, like life, demands evolution. Changing his technique at this stage of his career might not guarantee a return to form, in fact, it could risk disrupting his batting further. Yet, for a player of Kohli’s stature and skill, adapting and finding a way to make it work should be within his capabilities. The hesitation to embrace such changes, however, gives the impression that he is unwilling to step out of his comfort zone. For someone who has always thrived on challenges, this reluctance feels odd.

*With inputs from Naman Agarwal

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