Irfan Pathan teaches batting to Virat Kohli after consecutive ducks vs Australia

Former India National Cricket Team all-rounder Irfan Pathan has given some batting lessons to the modern-day great Virat Kohli after his consecutive failures on the Australia tour.

Irfan Pathan has urged Virat Kohli not to get desperate to score runs against the Australia National Cricket Team and just ensure that he spends some time in the middle and enjoys the batting.

Virat Kohli hits a new low with a double duck

Kohli has hit a historic low in his career with his awful batting show in the ongoing three-match ODI series against Australia, which the Men In Blue have already lost with one match remaining.

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At the Perth Stadium in the first ODI, Virat Kohli bagged a duck as he got out while trying to play a drive outside off-stump off Mitchell Starc, and he ended up edging it to Cooper Connolly.

The same poor form for Kohli continued in the second match as he once again got dismissed for a duck. Xavier Bartlett bowled a length delivery around off-stump that skidded through and hit Kohli on the pads as he was trying to play a flick shot.

The umpire instantly raised a finger, and after a chat with Rohit Sharma, Kohli decided to walk off the field while acknowledging the crowd. It was the very first time in his 304-match ODI career that Kohli got out for ducks in two consecutive matches.

But if there's a sword hanging above your head, it's not easy to play - Irfan Pathan

In a video shared on his official YouTube channel, Irfan Pathan stated that pressure, rustiness, or the atmosphere created about retirement might have led to Virat Kohli's horror show in the first two ODI matches. Irfan Pathan said:

"2 matches, two ducks - we haven't seen this. It doesn't happen too often. This can be pressure, rustiness or anything. All these things are going on social media, the atmosphere is being created. We have to be careful that these two players are not being affected by the atmosphere. If performance is not there, they won't play."

"But Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli have done amazing things. So, it's important to persist with them if they are struggling. It's difficult because Yashasvi Jaiswal is on the bench. But if there's a sword hanging above your head, it's not easy to play. I hope it doesn't affect Kohli."

"He got out in the off-stump in the first match. In the second match, he had it in the back of the mind that three slips were there. He would have been thinking whether the ball will come onto the off-stump. The ball slightly came back and he went to his favourite shot but got beaten. It was a big gap and you don't see such a big one in Kohli's flick shot."

He needs to keep enjoying batting - Irfan Pathan

After highlighting the problem, Irfan Pathan offered some solutions to Virat Kohli as well. The World Cup-winning all-rounder stated that Kohli should avoid getting into desperation mode and enjoy his cricket the way he has been doing for over a decade. Irfan Pathan elaborated:

"How can he come out of this? He wants to take a single quickly and get off strike. When there are two ducks against your name, you want a run. But he has to ensure to not get desperate. He shouldn't enjoy batting in the course of getting desperate. He needs to keep enjoying batting. Once he spends time, runs will come and he won't look back. He likes one-day cricket the most."

"But I request the fans that Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma - they might play for 1 year, 2 years, or play the World Cup. We might not see them play a lot. The expectation is they play as much cricket as possible. But this is the time to enjoy their cricket because they have given Indian cricket so much. The hope is for Kohli to return to form in the next match. Even if he struggles like Rohit Sharma did, but he needs to show his rhythm he has got. But don't get desperate for singles, runs will come."

Also Read: Virat Kohli ordered to regain form quickly to remain in ICC ODI World Cup 2027 plans