Watch: Virat Kohli punches himself in frustration after nicking outside off again in Sydney

Virat Kohli’s struggle with the outside off-stump line has continued and the batter has fallen prey to the same delivery again in the series. He came out to bat in the second innings when India were two wickets down with 47 runs on the board. A comeback innings was expected from the former India captain but his run drought continued in the final Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25. 

He was dismissed trying to have a go at a delivery the off-stump line, by Scott Boland. The same bowler delivered the similar line in the first innings and the right-handed batter had fallen prey to the ploy even then. He was dismissed scoring just six runs of 12 balls in the second innings after 17 off 69 in the first. The star India batter let out a frustrated cry and punched his thigh in agony. 

Here’s the video of the Kohli’s reaction:

All bowlers now have to do is to just bowl in that line: Sanjay Manjrekar 

Kohli started the Australia tour on a high after notching up his 81st ton in the second innings of the Perth Test. Since then, his struggle with the outside off line has become more than palpable. Former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar reckoned the senior batter's strength has become his biggest weakeness after his dismissal in the first innings of Sydney Test. 

"You've got to feel for the guy because his biggest strength, you know when he arrived on the international scene was the cover drive and now that has turned out to be the biggest weakness for him. Let's go back to the dismissals we just saw and I'll tell you something that I have never seen before. It is a problem outside off,” Manjrekar said as quoted by TOI. 

“We saw that surface against Jimmy Anderson in 2014 in England. But if the balls were outside off that were full, you know the balls that he was driving at are the ones that he was getting out to. But now that problem has become so severe that all bowlers now have to do is to just bowl in that line on the fifth and sixth, doesn't matter the length,” he added.