Kapil Dev on Virat Kohli’s slump in form: Great players don’t take very long | Exclusive

Virat Kohli’s form with the bat has been under scrutiny in recent years, more so after India were whitewashed 0-3 at home by New Zealand. Known as one of the most dependable batters in the longest format of the game, Kohli’s struggle, particularly against spin, has been the talk of the town. Kohli played six Tests in 2024, scoring just 250 runs at an average of 22.72 - which is way below his career average of 47.83.

If statistics are to be believed, Kohli’s struggle against spin started back in 2020 and since then the modern-day great fell victim against the slow bowlers 24 times out of his 57 dismissals. With the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) on the horizon, Kohli’s lack of form has been a concern.

Legendary Kapil Dev believes Virat Kohli will rectify his mistakes and will return to form in Australia where India play five Test matches starting from November 22 in Perth. “Nobody is a champion in cricket. Every day you can learn. So I think Virat Kohli is a very sorted individual and in the coming days, he will rectify himself.

“And if he doesn’t, his greatness will not be at that level,” said the 1983 World Cup-winning former India captain in an exclusive interaction with Livemint on Tuesday on the sidelines of the inauguration of Night Golf Festival at Jaypee Greens Golf Course in Greater Noida.

This is not the first time Kohli experienced a slump in form in his career. From 2019 to 2022, the right-hander struggled to register a single century to his name until his maiden T20I against Afghanistan at the 2022 Asia Cup brought him back on track.

Kapil, who is currently the president of the Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI), cited examples of several legendary cricketers who had gone through the same patch. “I think all the players like Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Sunil Gavaskar and even Vivian Richards, have all gone through this bad patch. Most importantly, great players don’t take very long.

“They will bounce back and hopefully, we cross our fingers, he (Kohli) will make his comeback in Australia,” added the 65-year-old.

How did Virat Kohli fare against Australia in BGT?

Having said that, Kohli has an impressive record against Australia. In 24 Tests against Australia, Kohli scored 1979 runs so far at an average of 48.26 including eight hundreds. In fact, six of those centuries came on Australian soil.

Kapil Dev on the idea of night golf

Speaking about night golf, Kapil welcomed the initiative and stated the idea will become a success.“It’s wonderful. 25 years back, we used to think how we play cricket at night and now see everybody plays cricket at night. Similarly, for golf, we used to only think the same before. But I am hopeful that in the coming days people will love to play golf at night rather than during the day,” he added.