SA vs IND: 'He will have to discuss with Rahul Dravid' - Saba Karim as Virat Kohli fails to convert another start

Former India cricketer Saba Karim believes skipper Virat Kohli should introspect on his poor shot selection. Kohli yet again was out chasing a wide delivery of the bowling of South African pacer Lungi Ngidi in the ongoing first Test match in Centurion. The skipper was well set and managed to negotiate 94 balls on good batting-friendly conditions. He displayed a great amount of patience and also brought his trademark cover drive.

However, against the run play, Kohli lost his wicket by needlessly going for an expansive drive, which was way outside his off stump. This short has brought him downfall several times in the longest format. The skipper worked on this aspect after his horrendous show with the bat against England in 2014, but the problems have seem to creep in.

Speaking on his Youtube podcast ‘Khelneeti’, Karim said that Kohli has been getting out at crucial junctures most often than not. "He (Kohli), over the years, has been a dominant and an authoritative batter. And we haven't seen that characteristic of his since the last 2-3 years. Though, he has to ponder over his shot selection. When he's moving past the initial period, he feels that this is the moment to score a big one. And that's when he's getting out. And I feel that this may be a worrying factor and he has to work on this."

The cricketer-turned-expert further opined that the Indian Test skipper will now need to work with head coach Rahul Dravid to manage to get back to form.

"Virat will definitely now have to discuss with Dravid regarding how he can stimulate situations, how he practice against different kinds of bowlers."

Kohli has not scored a century since 2019. He has managed to get to starts but he has failed to convert into big hundreds.