Team India batter Virat Kohli's seventh duck in T20Is ignited a flurry of memes on X, with netizens showing their anger with his poor batting against Australia in the T20 World Cup.

 

He was mercilessly trolled on social media after the Delhi-born cricketer endured another failure in the 2024 T20 World Cup. His latest flop show in the International Cricket Council (ICC) event came against the former champions as he scored a five-ball duck at the Daren Sammy National Cricket Stadium in St Lucia.

Opening the batting with Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli miscued a Josh Hazlewood delivery in the second over of the Indian innings. The ball went high in the air before it was comfortably taken by Australian wicketkeeper Tim David behind the stumps.

This was the second time in this year's edition of the T20 World Cup that Virat Kohli has been dismissed for naught. During the group stage of the tournament, USA's Saurabh Netravalkar sent him packing without troubling the scorers – his maiden Golden duck in the competition.

With his zero against Australia, Virat Kohli joined Ashish Nehra in an unwanted list of Indian players, who have made two ducks in a single edition of the T20 World Cup. Ashish Nehra accomplished the forgetful feat during the 2010 T20 World Cup.

The former India captain has had an agonizing 2024 T20 World Cup to say the least.

The 35-year-old batter began his campaign in the top international T20 World Cup with a score of 1 against Ireland before failing miserably against arch-rivals Pakistan, where he was dismissed for 4.

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Interestingly, it was his lowest score against the Green Army in the T20 World Cup.

In the third match for Men in Blue in the tournament, Saurabh Netravalkar, who once represented India in the U-19 World Cup, ended Virat Kohli's plans of rejuvenation, showing him the path to the pavilion after scalping for a duck.

Though Virat Kohli made a scrappy 24 off 24 deliveries against Afghanistan and 37 off 28 balls against Bangladesh in the subsequent two games, he never looked in his finest touch. Rather it appeared like he was laboring for runs in the middle.

One of the main reasons attributed to Virat Kohli's spectacular slump in form is his batting position. Throughout his international career, the premier India batter has batted at No.3 while in the T20 World Cup, he's been promoted as an opener – a position some experts, including AB de Villiers, believe has done more harm than good to his morale in the event.

The legendary Sunil Gavaskar and cricketer-turned-commentator Aakash Chopra pointed out Virat Kohli's shortcomings that have resulted in his downfall in the 2024 T20 World Cup.

“India lost the toss but Australia did what Bangladesh had done. They opted to bowl and I was clapping. Kohli did get out at the start for sure. Kohli's World Cup hasn't been good at all. A little form was seen for sure in the last match but he got out for zero this time. Our hearts started beating a little fast because he is an incredible player but he got out,” Aakash Chopra said on his YouTube channel.

“The way he batted in Barbados, made 24, but the ball was hitting the middle of the bat. The same thing happened in Antigua. One technical thing that I want to talk about is that during the IPL, when he used to step out and play, his balance was great. But here his balance is not that good. For that reason the ball is going on to the stumps when he misses or the ball is not being middled,” Sunil Gavaskar told Star Sports.

“The shots he is getting out to, see them. In Antigua, what happened against Bangladesh, his balance was not right. Only those two shots which saw him getting out, the balance was not good. If his balance is right, then there is nothing else to worry about. The amount of time he spends on the pitch will give him more confidence,” he added.

Meanwhile, Australian opener David Warner slammed Virat Kohli's critics and backed the Indian star to perform well in the upcoming games of the T20 World Cup.

“It's just his passion for the game, like, he's got a knack for in determination just for scoring runs and hunger to score runs. You know, he cops a lot of criticism, which is not right. I don’t know why he cops it, but there are a lot of people out there who are big Virat supporters, like all of us,” David Warner said in a conversation with the broadcasters.

“Now, we're in awe of the great players that have played this game, and we're fortunate to take the field with. So, you know, for him, he consistently goes about his business how he does. You know, he scores a lot of runs. He's a good team man and he competes hard. And that's what we like about coming up against the Indian cricket team,” he summed up.