Virat Kohli is starting to panic: Former Aussie pacer Rodney Hogg

With the important third of the 4-match series all set to begin in Ranchi from Thursday, India captain Virat Kohli will be under pressure to perform since he hasn’t enjoyed a good time on the crease in the series so far. While India recovered from the Pune debacle very well, with the come-from-behind win at Chinnaswamy, Kohli’s good form deserted him, with his batting average having gone under 50, and the skipper has started to panic.

Australian fast bowler, Rodney Hogg was quoted as saying by foxsport.com.au that the pressure on Kohli will compel him to put his own needs ahead of team-mates.

While the Ranchi pitch is being described in as “the worst pitch of the series so far” by some experts, Hogg says the Indian skipper would have demanded the Ranchi curators keep enough on the surface for batsmen to bat comfortably at the crease.

“Kohli how’s he gone so far this series? 0, 12, 13, 13. He’s (Kohli) a megastar and his average has now gone below 50. The lights go off when a batsman’s average goes below 50. They get paranoid. All the great batsmen, Michael Clarke ended up under 50, Steve Waugh just went under 50 near the end. He (Kohli) is starting to panic,” Hogg told the SEN radio station on Tuesday.

While some commentators’ review of the Ranchi pitch is very negative, Hogg feels that this would be the last thing the Indian skipper would personally want, after poor scores in the series so far.

Rodney also added, “He (Kohli) will be there three days before the game telling his little mate Dhoni I want a good wicket, a good wicket, a good batting wicket.

“You will get a good batting wicket…we’ve had two wickets that have favoured bowling, so you haven’t had to worry about a lot of overs.

“But you get a flat wicket in India you’ve got to churn out 120 to 140 overs, if you’ve only got four bowlers you’re in mega trouble, so you need to play the fifth bowler.”

Hogg further went on to add that Virat is just following Sachin Tendulkar who always wanted flat wickets to bat on, “If he (Sachin) saw three blades of grass he wanted the Bunsen Burner to get rid of them, he wanted flat wickets, that’s how they played,” Hogg said.

India and Australia will resume their on-field rivalry at the Jharkhand Cricket Association Stadium on Thursday. While the tourists will be eager to reclaim the trophy, the hosts will be eager to continue their series-winning streak at home.