In his return to international cricket, Virat Kohli was India’s worst batsman, scoring the second-highest duck for the Men in Blue in the history of cricket across three formats combined. Kohli achieved this unwanted feat after back-to-back ducks in Australia.
India failed to overwhelm Australia in the first ODI in Perth. Veteran batsmen Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli made their long-awaited return but were dismissed after conceding just eight and zero runs respectively. But when India returned to Adelaide for the second ODI, a lot was again expected of Kohli.
India did not consider changing their batting and bowling depth and went into the match against Adelaide unchanged, keeping three all-rounders in the team. What remains to be watched is the batting order decided by the Indian head coach.
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Virat Kohli becomes India’s second worst batsman
Legendary Indian batsman Virat Kohli has achieved another milestone in his return to international cricket. He has dominated the long formats of the white ball for a long time and has played 552* matches for India in all three formats since his debut in 2008.
Virat Kohli, who was dismissed for his first duck on Australian soil in the first ODI in Perth, continued his poor run with another duck in Adelaide. With Xavier Bartlett’s sacking, Kohli will now have 40 ducks in his career, the second most by an Indian player in international cricket.
He was joined by former Delhi teammate Ishant Sharma in the list, who also bagged 40 ducks as number one. 11 batters in 199 innings. This would be Kohli’s least desirable record in his illustrious career.
Virat Kohli adds another record to his glittering ODI career
The Indian legend went through the scariest phase of his career. Not only did he stumble in scoring and making an impact in games, but he also reached unwanted milestones after repeated failures in the series.
Virat, who has played 304 ODI matches in his career, holds the record of making a strong comeback even after a match disappoints. As a result, Virat Kohli was never dismissed for consecutive ducks in ODI cricket.
However, this is the first time that Kohli has been dismissed twice for ducks in two consecutive matches. The undesirable record of back-to-back dismissals for ducks in Tests and T20Is has returned to Kohli in 2021.
For the first time in his 304-match ODI career, Virat Kohli fell for a duck in two consecutive matches. He had earlier been dismissed for back-to-back ducks in Tests and T20Is in Ahmedabad in 2021.#INDvAUS
— Lalith Kalidas (@lal__kal) October 23, 2025
Is lack of game time affecting Virat Kohli’s form in Australia?
Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli have been away from international cricket for a long time and have already retired from the two remaining formats of international cricket. They have a lot of experience, but the game of cricket is all about rhythm.
Virat Kohli, who has been out of the game for a long time, probably lacked his rhythm going into the tough conditions in Australia. Furthermore, Kohli did not arrive early in Australia for a practice session ahead of the Perth Test, nor did he take part in the optional session ahead of the Adelaide match.
Therefore, this would be marked as the main reason why Kohli was not in good form as well as runs, whereas Rohit, who looked determined in the nets and in the practice sessions, seemed to be in better form in the second match.
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