Virat Kohli's double duck first raises fears the end is near

It wasn’t probably the double duck that raised eyebrows as much as what followed after. Walking back across the hallowed greens of Adelaide, once his beloved hunting ground, now a silo of silence, he gave a wave to the crowd – head still down – still reeling from a second zero next to his name.

It could really be a harmless gesture: cricketers always confuse us with their cryptic mini-acts. Whatever it meant, it led to a sea of clips on social media. It was the first time Kohli’s decorated ODI career had seen two zeroes in a row. In 12 innings since the start of 2024, he now averages 30.27, roughly 27 units lower than his career average.

Kohli's rare double blip

Now, a couple of ducks shouldn’t really measure up to much in the grander scheme of things. But this is a crucial series for Kohli. He doesn’t play Tests or T20Is anymore, and the only other top-flight cricket lined up for him so far is the IPL. As a one-format player turning 37 in a couple of weeks, Kohli needs to latch on to each chance. Not in any way to spruce up his legacy – that’s already set in stone – but to maximise each pocket of ODI cricket he gets leading up to what is clearly the endgame: the 2027 World Cup.

It’s the first time since March that Kohli came out in India colours. A lot has happened since that Champions Trophy win, and in the five months since RCB won the IPL, Kohli hasn’t played any competitive cricket. Now spending most of his time in London, Kohli was reported to have undergone indoor practice sessions in the lead up to the Australia tour. Earlier, there were suggestions that Kohli, along with Rohit, would be a part of the India A home series against the touring Australians, which would have been a good cushion before getting straight into an invariably testing Australia tour. But it wasn’t to be, neither was a scheduled Bangladesh series that was eventually scrapped.

When Kohli trudged out for the second time in the series, the broadcasters laid out the chinks in his batting on a graphic. The usual stuff: he’s pushed back before going at a fifth stump line, Josh Hazlewood is his best match-up, he doesn’t paddle-sweep, etc.

Xavier Bartlett, having already accounted for Shubman Gill, sent the first one on the fourth-stump line, which Kohli was happy to let go. He presented a tight defence right after, but off his fourth ball, was caught plumb in front. There wasn’t much in the delivery, just Kohli reading the line wrong.

Usually, Kohli flicks these through midwicket, identified as an area of strength by the broadcasters. But it was the first time since 2012 that Kohli was out leg-before in an ODI in Australia.

In the previous game, Kohli was out flashing at a delivery outside off, only to be caught sharply at gully, seen by many as his perennial weakness.

Kohli himself was quite upbeat after the first bout, assuring the break has only done him good.

“The amount of cricket I've played over the last 15-20 years, I've actually not rested at all,” he told Kayo.

“I've probably played the most number of games in the last 15 years in International cricket, combining IPL as well. For me, it was a very refreshing time off. I'm feeling as fit, if not fitter than I've been before. You can just feel the freshness and moving well in nets and fielding sessions.”

It didn’t help that the second failure came in Adelaide, where Kohli had two centuries in four ODI innings before this. In Tests too, he averaged 52.70 from five games at the venue.

The gesture had caused flutters on Indian social media, but former India captain Sunil Gavaskar advised against reading too much into it.

“Virat Kohli is not the type of player to give up after two ducks,” Gavaskar said. “He will aim to retire on a high, playing in Sydney, followed by the ODI series in South Africa, and then the 2027 World Cup alongside Rohit. Even the Australians would have been disappointed — they didn't get to see a big score from Virat Kohli.

“I think he was simply acknowledging the crowd with his gloves. Normally, when you get a big score, you acknowledge it with your bat raised, or your helmet or cap off. But this was just his way of thanking the crowd for the reception and the ovation they gave him. Don't read too much into it”.

At the same time, Rohit Sharma – also in a similar boat with his Test retirement – turned the second outing into a fruitful one, top-scoring with 73 even as India suffered a second straight loss. The pressure is probably a bit more on Rohit, a year-and-a-half older, not the captain anymore, with a ready successor in Yashasvi Jaiswal snapping at his heels.

Kohli's successor: Big boots to fill

That’s where Kohli probably finds a little more room. India don’t have a readymade No.3 to replace him. Since the end of the 2023 World Cup, Kohli has batted 12 times in that position, with Sanju Samson, Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer and Tilak Varma all batting once. While Gill and Iyer have batting positions of their own, Samson and Tilak haven’t really got a sustained run in one-dayers, and are more integral to the T20I side. It is to be noted that Samson hit a century at No.3 in South Africa before he was dropped.

So far, the selection committee also hasn’t been overly committed towards Rohit and Kohli both, maintaining that the 2027 World Cup is far, and both players are currently in the scheme of things.

"It’s not that if both of them don’t get runs this series, that will be the reason they won’t be here,” selection chief Ajit Agarkar said earlier this month. “Or because they get 300 runs, that will be the reason. 2027 is still a long way ahead. We will see how the team shapes up. We have some ideas, and as we go along, we will see how the team is progressing."

While it is a sensible approach as a whole, it puts the risk of bringing in a ready replacement if the need arises closer to the World Cup. Usually, teams start working on their core a couple of years ahead of an edition to give players a go at their roles to a reasonable degree. India’s next ODI assignment is against South Africa in November, after which they play New Zealand in January.

While Kohli maintains he feels fresher than ever, it’s these pockets of no cricket in the middle that could test that fluidity of form. Kohli hasn’t played a domestic 50-over game since 2013, after which his ODI career bloomed into a great one. The management has been keen on pushing players to play domestic cricket and stay in contention. The Vijay Hazare Trophy begins towards the end of December, and all of Delhi’s matches are in a two-week window. Only time will tell if Kohli does break that limbo.

This is not entirely a selection question either. Kohli’s own keenness to stay on will be at play. He once famously set a target of 10,000 Test runs for himself, but retired short of it after a Test tour of Australia didn’t quite work out as well.

"It's not going to be easy"

After his second duck, former India coach Ravi Shastri said it’s imperative that Kohli bounces back soon.

“He’ll have to get some form pretty quickly,” Shastri said. “The competition for places is such in India in white-ball cricket, no one is going to relax, whether it’s Virat or Rohit or anyone in the team. It’s not going to be easy, there is competition. He missed out again today, he was a little tentative with his footwork. It doesn’t happen often. His record in one-day cricket is phenomenal, so for him to get two ducks on the trot, he’ll be disappointed.”

There is still a game to go in the series, albeit a dead rubber. If he goes on to score big, the noise around him will dissipate until the next series. If he doesn’t, it will be another month until we see Kohli in action.

Either way, two unexpected setbacks early into his India return make for worrying signs. Even the greatest players have had to bow out ahead of time. For Kohli, the big prize is still a fair bit away. His staunchest supporters would still believe he’ll carry on. A big score in Sydney would definitely help. But the manner of his unprecedented double failure does raise the question – is the end closer than we think?

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