‘Numbers to be ashamed of’ - Irfan Pathan on Virat Kohli's poor form

Star India batter Virat Kohli has struggled to live up to the expectations in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy. He hit a century in the first Test in Perth but since then, the 36-year-old registered scores of 7, 11, 3, 36 and 5, respectively. A string of low scores has led to questions over his place in the playing XI as the selectors are currently eyeing a transition in the Indian Test squad.

Former cricketer Irfan Pathan is also disappointed with Kohli’s form in the ongoing series. The 40-year-old highlighted that he has been disappointing in the last five years, as far as red-ball cricket is concerned as he averages close to 28. Since October 2024, the average has fallen to 21. Pathan called out Kohli’s poor form and added that the numbers don’t reflect his legendary status.

“It's been five years. You are such a big player and your average in the last five years has been close to 28. Does Indian cricket deserve this? Does Indian cricket deserve an average of 28 from their best player? Absolutely not, they deserve better than this,” Pathan said during a discussion on Star Sports. 

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“He has an average of 21 since October 2024. The Indian team doesn't deserve that. Even a young player will give you an average of 21. You expect more than this from Virat. If your career average is close to 50, these are numbers to be ashamed of,” he added.

Pathan opens up on Kohli’s struggle to play outside off-stump deliveries

Kohli was dismissed to balls pitching outside off-stump for the six out of seven times in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Pathan believes that the cricketer should learn from his mistakes as he’s repeatedly committing them. 

“If you look at his dismissals, all the balls were outside the stumps. If you don't touch them, the balls will go to the wicketkeeper, and the bowler will definitely do something else. Good players increase the gap between two same mistakes. Virat is making similar mistakes repeatedly. Australia are not going from Plan A to Plan B at all. He is getting out to Plan A itself,” Pathan said.