Ravi Shastri Reacts As Virat Kohli Records Back-To-Back Ducks Against Australia

Virat Kohli registered consecutive ducks for the first time in ODIs, prompting Ravi Shastri to urge him to find form quickly.

Virat Kohli has once again made headlines, but this time not for his batting heroics. The Indian star suffered consecutive ducks in the ongoing three-match ODI series against Australia. The 36-year-old, who has retired from both T20Is and Tests, now plays only in the ODI format. His four-ball duck in Adelaide on October 23 marked the first time he has recorded back-to-back ducks in ODIs, following an eight-ball duck in the first match in Perth on October 19.

Former Indian head coach Ravi Shastri shared his thoughts on Kohli’s current struggles, saying that the veteran batter must find form soon as competition for spots in India’s white-ball setup remains intense.

Despite his lean patch, Kohli continues to be one of the most successful ODI batters in history, with 14,181 runs—only behind Sachin Tendulkar and Kumar Sangakkara.

“He’ll have to get some form pretty quickly. 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.

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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,” Shastri said while commentating on Fox Sports during the second ODI.

Adelaide Oval has been one of Kohli’s favourite hunting grounds, where he has scored 975 runs across formats at an average of 65, including five centuries. In ODIs, he has struck two tons at the venue—his first during the 2015 World Cup against Pakistan, when he scored 126 off 107 balls, and another in 2019 against Australia, making 104 off 112 in the second match of that series.

Shastri On ‘Rusty’ Kohli

Earlier, Shastri had spoken about the comebacks of both Kohli and Rohit Sharma after a long break from international cricket. Rohit, who returned alongside Kohli, scored 73 runs in India’s narrow two-wicket loss at Adelaide Oval on Thursday.

“When you come back from a long layoff, you are obviously going to be rusty. It’s not easy for any overseas team to land in Australia, say, two days prior to a game in Perth and adjust to those conditions straight away, especially when you have that extra bounce and against quality fast bowlers. But I think only time will tell. They’ll go to Adelaide, they have some time off to get into the nets, get their minds sorted and get back into action. So I’m in no hurry to judge, but it’s when you come back at that age, after some time, it’s about how much you’re enjoying the sport and how much hunger is there and passion is left in you to play the game,” said Shastri.

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