Former India player Aakash Chopra has noted that Virat Kohli failed to end his lean run in Delhi's Ranji Trophy 2024-25 clash against Railways. However, he added that the only saving grace was the former India captain not getting out to a delivery outside the off-stump, which has been his Achilles heel lately.
Kohli scored six runs off 15 deliveries in Delhi's first-innings total of 374 in response to Railways' 241. He was castled by Himanshu Sangwan, who ended with figures of 4/55 in 25.4 overs, with an incoming delivery.
In a video shared on his YouTube channel 'Aakash Chopra', the former India opener opined that the only comforting factor for Kohli's fans might be his mode of dismissal.
"So many people had come for Kohli. They were waiting. On the first day, people were asking (Yash) Dhull and Sanat (Sangwan) to be given out as they had come to watch only Kohli. He played incoming balls well at the start. He got beaten on two consecutive away-going deliveries," he said (13:20).
"Then he came to the other end, did a slight shimmy, hit a four down the ground, and then went forward similarly to the next ball, there was a gap between the bat and the pad, and he got bowled. The only solace was that he didn't get out to an outside-off delivery," Chopra added.
While observing that Kohli was found wanting in some other area while attempting to correct his usual shortcoming, the cricketer-turned-commentator added that his dismissal was heartbreaking.
"He was getting out caught behind and got beaten by an incoming delivery this time. Of course, he is working towards something, so something was left lacking here. However, the heart was broken, there is no doubt about that. It's the truth," Chopra observed.
Aakash Chopra noted that the entire Arun Jaitley Stadium virtually emptied once Virat Kohli was dismissed. He added that it reflects the star culture in India as the spectators were only interested in watching the ace batter and not the Ranji Trophy match.
"They all went to play but no one scored runs" - Aakash Chopra on Virat Kohli and most Test stars' Ranji Trophy failures
In the same video, Aakash Chopra noted that Virat Kohli's name got added to the list of Indian Test players who failed in the recent rounds of the Ranji Trophy.
"The problem is that all our batters, barring Shubman Gill, I am talking about the main team players, haven't scored runs, whether it was Rohit (Sharma), Yashasvi (Jaiswal), Virat Kohli now, KL Rahul or Rishabh Pant. They all went to play but no one scored runs. Only Shubman Gill scored a hundred in the second innings. Everyone else got out, including Virat Kohli," he said (14:15).
Shubman Gill played a 102-run knock in Punjab's second innings of their Ranji Trophy clash against Karnataka last week. While Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal, and Rishabh Pant failed to fire in the previous round of the Ranji Trophy, KL Rahul managed only 26 runs in Karnataka's first innings in their ongoing clash against Haryana.
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