Virat Kohli's ODI struggles have put India on backfoot

While skipper MS Dhoni has been under scrutiny over India's recent failures in the limited-overs format, including the close defeat to South Africa in the first ODI on Sunday, Virat Kohli's struggles with the bat in ODIs has also contributed to India's problems. Kohli's good form matters a lot, more than Dhoni's perhaps. When Kohli was caught by Morne Morkel at short fine-leg while trying to flick Dale Steyn on Sunday, it was the 11th consecutive time that the Indian Test captain had failed to log an ODI fifty.

For someone who has slammed 22 centuries in 162 ODIs, the 26-year-old is averaging 29.92 in ODIs this year, his lowest in a calendar year in ODIs, which is embarrassing for a man who, along with AB de Villiers, been rated as the premier batsman in the world presently. It won't be an exaggeration to say that for the past three years or so, Kohli has been to the Indian team what Sachin Tendulkar was to the Men in Blue for a better part of his career. Especially when it comes to chases in ODIs, India have missed his golden touch the most, because more often than not, an in-form Kohli finishes off a game without the slightest discomfort - 14 out of his 22 hundreds have come in pursuit of a target, with 13 of them getting India home. With a long home season, culminating into World T20, ahead, fans would be desperately hoping that his lean patch gets over as soon as the second ODI at Indore on Wednesday.

On Sunday, Kohli, pushed down the order to adjust Ajinkya Rahane at the top, came in to bat at 191 for two in the 35th over. The stage was set for him to take over Part-2 of the chase, but he faltered. Former India skipper and chief selector Dilip Vengsarkar felt that this sudden switch from his usual batting position of No. 3 may just have affected Kohli. "Every batsman needs a settled batting position, so that he can mentally prepare for it. This is pretty important from the team's perspective as well," Vengsarkar told TOI.

Kohli's coach since childhood, Raj Kumar Sharma, concurred with Vengsarkar. "It didn't help that his batting order was changed. He's an ideal player for the No. 3 position, not No. 4," felt Sharma.

Another former chief selector, ex-India stumper Kiran More, however, thought that Kohli may just rediscover his mojo while batting in a different slot. "He should try batting in a different position. Right now, what happens is that a wicket falls, and all the pressure is on him. Sometimes, when you're out of form, it helps to bat in a different position. When he finds runs again, he can switch back to No 3," suggested More.

Former South Africa coach Ray Jennings, who has seen Kohli from close quarters as a youngster while he was with the Royal Bangalore Challengers, felt that Kohli's batting position wasn't a problem, though the batsman himself would be more at home at No. 3. "I think Virat wants to bat at No. 3, but I see him doing well both at No. 3 and No. 4 for India for the next decade."

Batting slot apart, what is surprising about his lean run is that he has been getting out just when you feel it's his day. We've spoken at length about it. He's not worried, and is enjoying his game. He's been batting well before getting out. If you see the game on Sunday, he was out to a brilliant catch at an unusual fielding position. There's no technical flaw in his batting. He's playing confidently ," assured Sharma.

"Cricket is a funny game.Things aren't working for him. The Indian fans need to be patient with him. He will come good. I see a big one coming. I know Virat. He's mentally very strong. He'll want to bounce back soon," said Jennings.

There's a school of thought which says that, perhaps, making Kohli the T20 and ODI skipper may just see him produce his best again - his bat fired consistently in Tests since he assumed captaincy in the longer format. Jennings, however, thought otherwise. "I don't think that he's ready for (ODI and T20 captaincy) yet. Let him grow as a Test captain first. MS Dhoni is a good captain," he said.

Some time back, Kohli had acknowledged how Team India director Ravi Shastri had helped him bounce back after a horrendous England tour with some technical inputs which helped him smash four hundreds in the Test series against Australia Down Under last season. Maybe, India's best batsman across all formats needs a similar spark of wisdom to get going again. India look far more dangerous when he's on song.