Xtra Time Web Desk: India captain Virat Kohli’s lean patch in test cricket seems to continue. Kohli once again failed to live up to the expectation as he was dismissed for just 7 runs in the first hour of Day 1 of the third test match against England at Headingley on Wednesday.
Kohli got out to James Anderson caught behind to Jos Buttler. The veteran England pacer has now accounted for Kohli twice in the ongoing test series. The Indian captain got out to a similar manner in the first innings of the first test at Trent Bridge where he edged an out swinger to Joe Root at first slip.
Kohli edged a perfect out swinger from Anderson off the final delivery of 11th over. It looked as the Indian captain went for a checked cover-drive, but only managed to get a thick outside edge and Buttler held on to a simple catch.
Anderson joined Australian off spinner Nathan Lyon in dismissing Kohli for 7 times in test matches. Anderson turned out to be a nemesis for Kohi during the 2014 test series where he dismissed him four times. The Indian captain bounced back in 2018 series in England, not giving Anderson his wicket. But so far in five innings Anderson has already got rid of Kohli twice.
Kohli is yet to score a fifty in the last 9 Test innings and his century drought increases to 640 days and counting. His last test hundred came against Bangladesh on November 22, 2019, at Eden Gardens in the pink-ball Test. But after lockdown, he has struggled big-time, scoring just three half-centuries in 17 innings.
Since the century at Eden Gardens, Virat Kohli’s average and strike rate have both dropped massively, showing his struggles. In 17 innings, the Indian skipper has scored just 407 runs at an average of 23.94 including three ducks. Two of the three half-centuries came against England at home earlier this year. Against England in the ongoing Test series, he has scored just 62 runs with an average of 20.66 including a first-ball duck.