Dinesh Karthik's Brutal Advice to Virat Kohli: 'No Sugarcoating Domestic Cricket Reality'

Kohli's recent dip in form has been cited as a contributing factor to India's recent Test series loss at home, their first since 2012. In stark contrast to his dominant performances from 2012 to 2019, Kohli has struggled to replicate that same level of success since 2020. Over the past four years, he has only managed to score two Test centuries, both of which came in 2023. One was against Australia on a pitch that offered little assistance to the bowlers in Ahmedabad, while the other was against the West Indies.

Former India wicketkeeper-batter Dinesh Karthik has said that it is now a recurring pattern of Kohli being dismissed by spinners, and the right-handed batter needs to find solutions.

"Virat Kohli has not had it easy, the series has not been good to him, three out of four innings, he has disappointed. It's obviously a recurring partner where spinners have troubled him, and I think he will go and figure out what he needs to do to come out stronger. He is a man, who is searching for answers. When you reach that level of genius and super stardom, you will be thrown challenges and here is another challenge. India likes to play on pitches that aids spin, what is his gameplan?" said Dinesh Karthik while speaking to Cricbuzz.

Dinesh Karthik also stated that Kohli should "probably go back to domestic cricket" in order to regain his mojo, that once made him the best batter in the world.

"We all know what he is capable, this series was not meant to be. Like the fans have been saying, he has not done it for a long time and that we cannot run away from. We don't want to sugarcoat it because we want to be as objective in assessing any player, any performance, at the moment Virat Kohli's Test record in the last 2-3 years, has not been great against spin," said Karthik.

"What we needs to do, is probably go back to domestic cricket and focus on what needs to be done with the current rules of DRS. There is no doubt the left-arm spinners pose a big threat," he added.

In the ongoing series against the Kiwis, Kohli has just managed 88 runs in four innings, with 70 coming in the second innings of the first Test, played at M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.

Kohli would now hope to get back into the groove in the third and final Test against New Zealand, before travelling to Australia for the all-important Border-Gavaskar Trophy.