5 Reasons Why Virat Kohli Hasn't Won A Major ICC Tournament

The Indian skipper Virat Kohli has come very close in taking his nation to the finals of ICC tournaments twice but has ended on the losing side on both occasions. Kohli’s leadership skills have been of the highest quality but he has always lacked the little bit of luck that is needed for things to go his way.

Having taken over the captaincy of the test team from 2014, Kohli has gone on to captain India in three major ICC tournaments including the ICC Champions Trophy in 2017, the ICC Cricket World cup in 2019, and the ICC World Test Championship in 2021. His next assignment will be in the T20 World cup this year and here are 5 reasons why Virat Kohli hasn’t won a major tournament.

5 Reasons Why Virat Kohli Hasn’t Won A Major ICC Tournament

Big Players Succumbing In Crucial Stages:

India‘s big names like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah have all faltered in the crucial matches and it has been a major problem in Virat Kohli’s search for a title under his leadership. They have a huge role to play in any team and their poor performances in crunch situations could affect the whole team.

Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma were dismissed early in the Champions Trophy final 2017 as well as in the 2019 Worldcup semi-final against New Zealand. It becomes a huge setback and the opponents will be very happy to come across this.

Knockout Stages Pressure:

India has been the second-best team while handling pressure in knockout games under Virat Kohli and it has been visible in the games for the Royal Challengers Bangalore. It isn’t easy for any player in knockout stages, but it is the responsibility of putting in the hard yards and driving under pressure.

Under the leadership of Virat Kohli, both India and his franchise Royal Challengers Bangalore haven’t been able to play to their potential in knockouts despite being the superior team and this will be another aspect that should be worked on by the players.

Over Dependent On Few Players:

To win a major tournament, it is very important that the whole team contributes and it cannot be just the same set of players to deliver for the nation time and again as it can be very risky. Every great player is accustomed to having some off days and that is the time when the other players in the team should use the opportunity.

Dependence on just a few players might not just work in hindsight and Virat Kohli carried the whole Royal Challengers Bangalore single-handedly in 2016 IPL with centuries after centuries, but his dismissal in the final shocked the team and could never recover after that.

Team Selection for Crunch Games:

Virat Kohli’s team selection has for the knockout games has always been questionable and the results haven’t been on his side too. He decided not to change the playing XI that he announced earlier to the World Test Championship finals despite the conditions favoring a lot more fast bowlers.

His idea of playing two spinners, with Jadeja being the all-rounder backfired and it meant that India lacked one more fast bowler in the playing XI. Also, he could have gone in with Mohammad Siraj who has had a brilliant season and he was bowling too good to be left out of the playing XI.

Batting Collapses:

India is highly unlikely to win ICC tournaments if they continue to have batting collapses in crucial stages. It was clearly evident in the Worldcup 2019 semi-final, ICC world test championship 2021, and also in the Champions Trophy 2017 that India needed a better batting performance.

Hardik Pandya and Jadeja recovered well in the Champions Trophy 2017, but one wicket ended the heroics of the right-hander and Pakistan won the game easily. In the 2019 Worldcup, India was stranded at 5 for the loss of 3 wickets and it meant, that the chase from there on was going to be really difficult despite Dhoni at the crease.