Former Pakistan skipper Misbah-ul-Haq has hit out at Virat Kohli, claiming that the Indian star batter's “ego” is responsible for his ongoing slump with the bat which seems to have become eternal now. Virat Kohli's search for a 71st century in international cricket has now extended to 31 months as he hasn't reached the three-figure mark since November 2019. The legendary Misbah-ul-Haq also said that Virat Kohli's struggles on the pitch are in part due to technical issues.

“Kohli looks to chase deliveries outside-off a lot of times and he has been dismissed in that manner multiple times. We can see the technical issues, but the reason why he is doing that is because of mental issues,” Misbah-ul-Haq told the ICA Sports YouTube channel.

“He is trying to dominate the bowlers as there's an ego and pride. But somewhere he is overdoing it. He is playing more and more and the pressure is mounting on him,” Misbah-ul-Haq added.

Misbah-ul-Haq, however, isn't the first cricketer to point out technical flaws in Virat Kohli's batting.

Last month, former India batter Sanjay Manjrekar tweeted about the same.

“Virat wanting to be on the front foot no matter what is not helping his cause. Mental toughness takes you far sure, but technical issues cannot be ignored completely. Crunch game.. front foot to a short of length bouncing ball cost him his wicket again,” the former India cricketer said on Twitter.

Former Pakistan pacer Aaqib Javed too noticed a glitch in Virat Kohli's technique.

“Virat Kohli has a better range [of shots] as compared to Babar Azam but he also has one area of weakness. If the ball swings, he tends to get trapped around the off-stump such as against [James] Anderson in England,” Aaqib Javed told Cricket Pakistan.

“When you look at Babar, you don't see any weak areas. Just like, [Sachin] Tendulkar who also didn't have any weak areas. Babar is technically more safe and sound but if he follows Kohli's fitness routine he will become an even better player. Meanwhile, Kohli can improve his technique by looking at Babar so that he doesn’t get trapped,” Aaqib Javed added.

The 33-year-old has gone more than 100 games without a century in all formats. Even his numbers in the Indian Premier League weren't impressive.

In the 2022 edition of the tournament, Virat Kohli could only make 341 runs with a poor average of 22.73 in 16 games.

Kohli's run in the IPL was a horror show, to say the least as he registered three golden ducks in the same tournament for the first time in his career.

The spinners were posing serious problems for him too with the incoming balls from particularly off-spinners giving him a lot to think about as he was getting out either LBW or bowled on them.

It is a shocking turnaround for a player who used to be brilliant against both pace and spin. Now he's not even good enough to tackle average speedsters and tweakers like Wanindu Hasaranga of Sri Lanka.

Virat Kohli will be in action again starting this Friday as India will lock horns with England in a one-off Test at Edgbaston. A lot will be riding on Virat Kohli this time, as India will be missing two frontline players in Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul.

In Rohit's absence, Virat Kohli will be among the few senior men in the team, and a lot will depend on his batting for India.

Nonetheless, Virat Kohli has the vote of confidence of India's head coach Rahul Dravid who said that the 33-year-old looked in fine form in the warm-up game against Leicestershire and is all set to end his barren run in the fifth Test against England in Birmingham.

“He's not on the wrong side of his 30s. He's an incredibly fit guy, and one of the most hard-working guys I've come across. His desire, his hunger and his whole attitude, looking after himself and his preparations, even the way he batted in Leicester in those conditions, scoring the kind of 50s and 60s. He is ticking all the right boxes, he is doing what he needs to do,” Rahul Dravid said during a press conference in England.

“As a player, you go through these kinds of phases. I don't think in Virat's case, it is lack of motivation or desire. It's not about scoring three figures, even a 70 on a difficult pitch is worth appreciation. In Cape Town, he didn't convert it into a century, but it was a good score,” Rahul Dravid who has more than 13,000 Test runs to his name stated.

“Going by the standards he has set for himself, people only see hundreds as a success. But from a coach's perspective, we want contributions from him, whether it's a 50 or a 60,” Dravid concluded.