Virat Kohli's middle muddle becoming an alarming concern

A few months ago, with the T20I series against England tantalizingly poised, Virat Kohli sprung a massive surprise and pushed himself up to open, alongside Rohit Sharma. When the rubber began, Kohli was adamant that KL Rahul and Rohit would be the ones to open.

Yet, they ended the series having tried three different combinations, although it must be said that the Kohli-Rohit nexus satiated India’s appetite the most. Not just because both are probably India’s most impactful top-order white-ball batters but also because the pair single-handedly snatched the decisive T20I away from England.

Post the game, Kohli was quick to indicate that he intended to bat at the top of the order for the Royal Challengers Bangalore – a decision he has since followed through with and a decision that could continue at the T20 World Cup as well, considering the absence of back-up openers such as Prithvi Shaw, Ruturaj Gaikwad and Shikhar Dhawan.

Prima facie, it seemed an inspired move, especially with Kohli having enjoyed his finest hours as a T20 batter at the top of the order. Whenever talking about Kohli’s suitability as an opener, the memories of his remarkable 2016 Indian Premier League season come gushing back. Not much can go wrong then, can it?

So far, though, the jury has remained a tad undecided on whether the Indian captain’s tactic has worked. Though he has forged a decent partnership with Devdutt Padikkal, there have been a few grey areas that have surfaced recently.

Kohli and RCB blazed away in the Power Play against the Chennai Super Kings. They put each CSK bowler under pressure and reaped the rewards. However, post the field restrictions, they hit a submerged log and were never really able to rekindle their momentum.

Kohli, in particular, scratched his way to 20 off 20 balls after the first six overs, meaning that whatever head of steam RCB had generated, evaporated quite quickly. They ultimately scrapped their way to a middling total, although that was hardly enough against a strong CSK batting unit.

A game later, against the Mumbai Indians, a similar incident occurred. Kohli, like he did against CSK, razed the MI bowlers into the ground and blasted 31(20) in the Power Play. However, once the spinners were in operation and the field restrictions were lifted, Kohli struggled to inject impetus into the innings.

The RCB skipper departed having scored 51 off 42 balls. Damningly, only 20 of those runs came after the Power Play. That he also took 22 balls to do so, illustrates that Kohli has developed a habit of huffing and puffing in the middle overs.

When his overall IPL stats are pitted against his recent numbers, the result is quite revealing. Back in 2016, when Kohli had the world at his feet and was easily the best batter in T20 cricket, he struck at 150.76 in the middle overs.

Subsequently, he never lost his mojo through the innings – something that enabled him to notch up centuries at will and throttle RCB to match-winning totals.

Virat Kohli has struggled in the middle overs lately

Over the past couple of seasons, however, Kohli’s strike rate in the middle overs and against spinners has dipped considerably, meaning that RCB have seemed too reliant on AB de Villiers’ pyrotechnics at the death.

Kohli's numbers in the middle overs have taken a dip recently

When comparing the Indian captain’s middle overs strike rates for all IPL seasons against each other, three of the five worst tallies are since 2019, suggesting that Kohli hasn’t really been able to dominate post the Power Play and against spin bowling.

Speaking specifically about spinners, the RCB skipper hasn’t been able to impose himself enough. Since 2019, Kohli has struck at only 115.73, having scored 515 runs. In contrast, he struck at 129.22 before the 2019 edition of the IPL.

While the average has increased a touch post the 2018 season - 57.22 as compared to an overall average of 56.34 – the fact remains that brisk run-scoring has been at a premium for Kohli against spinners.

On the other hand, Kohli’s strike rate against fast bowlers has zinged up in that same period. Before 2019, he scored at a rate of 131.1. Since the 2019 instalment, though, he has been striking at 139.65, which despite the slightly lower average (28.88 as compared to 32.09) indicates his willingness to grab the game by the scruff of its neck against pacers.

Thus, from that perspective, it seems that the Indian captain has made the right decision to shift himself to open, considering that seam bowling is what he is enjoying most. And, of course, that his strike rate has discernibly dropped against the spinners.

Kohli has struggled against spinners in recent times

That, though, doesn’t take anything away from a pattern that has assumed alarming proportions. Not just for RCB but for the Indian cricket team too.

While Kohli, by virtue of opening, might have more boundary-scoring options in the Power Play, he still runs the risk of getting stuck in the middle overs – something that has happened twice already in the second half of the IPL and something that could undermine a defining T20 World Cup campaign for India.

At the moment, it certainly seems that Kohli’s batting against spinners has deteriorated, at least in terms of his strike rate, his inclination to take risks against them and of course, the execution attached with the risk-taking.

At RCB, those cracks are papered over by the presence of de Villiers and Glenn Maxwell. To an extent, that particular role can also be performed by Ravindra Jadeja and Rishabh Pant in the Indian team.

However, if Kohli can’t evolve a mechanism to keep things moving in the middle overs, it might be too much of an ask to expect Jadeja and Pant to produce something special each time they bat.

Over the years, the RCB captain has been brilliant when it comes to capitalizing on good starts. Now, though, there might just be a few chinks in that particular armour.

To be fair to Kohli, he has probably identified his current weakness in the middle overs and that could primarily be the reason for his promotion to the top of the order. But Kohli, as the entire cricketing community would testify, is more than just a Power Play dasher.

He is still one of the best T20 batters on the circuit, make no mistake about it. Yet, if he wants to establish himself as the numero uno batter again, he needs to solve his middle muddle – a muddle that has become an alarming concern.