Former India captain and coach Anil Kumble has weighed in on Virat Kohli’s recent struggles, suggesting that the batting stalwart is placing undue pressure on himself in an attempt to rediscover his best form.
Kumble, speaking on ESPNcricinfo, observed that Kohli’s eagerness to perform has led to an overly tense approach, particularly in white-ball cricket.
"Having been through a lean patch, so to speak, especially in white-ball cricket – he hasn't had that kind of run for a long period of time – I feel he's trying a bit too hard," Kumble remarked.
Since the 2023 World Cup, Kohli has managed only 137 runs in six ODI innings, registering a lone half-century. His struggles continued in India’s opening fixture of the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy in Dubai, where he scored 22 off 38 deliveries against Bangladesh before falling to leg-spinner Rishad Hossain.
Kumble, who has mentored several Indian cricketers, noted that the weight of expectations on Kohli has intensified the situation. "Everyone sort of looks up to you saying he's the guy who's going to take the game away… When you have that kind of pressure and expectation, you suddenly start putting undue importance to all of that and then try hard to do well," he stated.
He further suggested that Kohli must adopt a more relaxed mindset and play with a sense of freedom akin to his best performances. "The best innings that I am sure he's played, he's not even thinking about all of that… I think he's trying a bit too hard. You can see that in the way he is going about his innings. He just needs to not worry about it."
Notably, Kohli’s last six dismissals have come against spinners, five of them to leg-spin. Kumble attributed this trend to Kohli’s increased urgency to score rather than focusing on his traditional method of strike rotation. "To start off against spin, on surfaces like that, you need a lot of confidence. He's certainly trying too hard to manoeuvre that," Kumble explained.
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He added, "He's a good player of spin when he's in form, when he's wanting to just knock singles off and keep rotating the strike. Now he's trying too hard to score runs rather than just manoeuvre, and that's been his game plan."
Another former India cricketer, Sanjay Manjrekar, offered his perspective on Kohli’s recent form, suggesting that the batsman no longer possesses the explosive big-hitting ability that defined much of his earlier success.
"He's in a tight corner, Virat Kohli. His confidence is still down," Manjrekar observed on ESPNcricinfo.
He pointed out that Kohli’s batting has lacked the fluency and assertiveness required to counter aggressive spin bowling.
Comparing Kohli to his contemporaries, Manjrekar remarked, "Rohit Sharma still has the big game… He can step out and hit a guy over extra cover and play the short-arm pull and is willing to take chances. Virat Kohli doesn't have the big game anymore."
Manjrekar further highlighted the psychological toll that a prolonged lean phase can have on a cricketer.
"After that hundred in Australia, had he just carried on that form… you know it's a confidence thing as well – when you're out of form and you don't have confidence, you suddenly don't quite get that power and the courage to hit the big shots," he explained.
Kohli’s recent troubles against spin, according to Manjrekar, stem from the opposition’s growing confidence in attacking him with slower bowlers.
"When he comes into bat, the spinners come on. And once the spinners know that you're not going to be hitting them for three sixes straight down the pitch or over midwicket… so the spinners also are bowling the kind of deliveries they'll get wickets off because they don't fear backlash from the batter," he maintained.
As India navigates the Champions Trophy, both Kumble and Manjrekar believe that Kohli’s approach will be key to overcoming his current slump. Whether he can rediscover his natural rhythm remains to be seen, but the scrutiny surrounding his performances continues to intensify.
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