"He is in no mental state at the minute" - Michael Vaughan feels Virat Kohli is too anxious and desperate at the moment 

Former England captain Michael Vaughan believes Virat Kohli is too anxious and desperate to score runs at the moment, and that has led to his downfall. The Indian skipper is averaging 17.25 on the ongoing tour of England.

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Following a poor string of outings in the first two Tests, Virat Kohli added yet another low score to his meager tally by falling for just seven in the first innings of the third Test. Kohli fell prey to his nemesis James Anderson for the second time in the series and was undone by a delivery on the fourth stump.

Vaughan believes Kohli has not been patient so far on the tour. He has failed to settle in and wear out the bowlers. While speaking to Cricbuzz, Vaughan said:

"Virat Kohli is in no mental state at the minute. I'm looking at the way he's playing throughout this series. He's anxious, he's desperate, he's going to the ball a little bit too soon. When he got all those runs last time he was here, he was patient, he left the ball, he wore Anderson down, he waited for those straight balls. He's not done that so far in this series."

Kohli was one of three scalps that James Anderson picked up in the first innings. Much like the Indian captain, KL Rahul and Cheteshwar Pujara succumbed to the mastery of the veteran seamer.

I think India are selecting some of these players now purely on reputation: Michael Vaughan

India's middle-order woes have been well documented. The famed trio of Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane have not been contributing runs which has affected the whole dynamic of the batting unit.

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— England Cricket (@englandcricket) August 25, 2021

Vaughan stressed that India are picking batsmen on the basis of reputation rather than merit even when they have options in the form of Suryakumar Yadav and Hanuma Vihari.

In this regard, Vaughan said:

"I think India are selecting some of these players now purely on reputation. Rahane and Pujara played okay in the second innings at Lord's. India are backing these players purely on reputation."

India's middle order contributed 26 runs out of the first innings total of 78 and barring the second innings at Lord's, their input has been far below expectations.