Social media users hurled expletives at Virat Kohli on X amid the premier Team India batter's struggles with the bat in the 2024 T20 World Cup.

“Chokli” – a term often used to mock Virat Kohli on social media, became one of the top trends on the microblogging site as cricket enthusiasts joked about Virat Kohli's poor performances in the competitions.

 

On Wednesday, USA's Saurabh Netravalkar removed the Team India superstar for a golden duck at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium.

With Virat Kohli registering his maiden golden duck in the T20 World Cup, his terrible run in the tournament extended to three matches in a row.

The Delhi-born cricketer arrived in the US after having a stellar Indian Premier League (IPL), recording one of his best seasons in the 17 editions of the competition.

During the 17th edition of the tournament, Virat Kohli made 741 runs in 15 matches, thus becoming the only batter to cross the 700-run barrier this year.

With this, Virat Kohli won the Orange Cap for the second time in the history of the IPL, having previously bagged it in 2016.

In 2016, Virat Kohli struck a phenomenal 973 runs, which remains a record in the event.

But he began his T20 World Cup campaign with a score of 1 off 5 deliveries against Ireland at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in the Big Apple last week.

On a lively pitch that was aiding fast bowlers, Virat Kohli slashed hard at the ball delivered by Mark Adair. However, he could only get a thick edge, and Benjamin White, who was standing at third man, did the rest.

The 35-year-old batter followed his 1 against Ireland by scoring four runs against arch-rivals Pakistan.

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

After experiencing two successive failures, everyone expected him to find his groove against the USA but it wasn't meant to be.

Saurabh Netravalkar, who once represented India in the U-19 World Cup, ended Virat Kohli's plans of rejuvenation as soon as he arrived at the crease to open the batting with skipper Rohit Sharma.

Enticing Virat Kohli with a little bit of a wide delivery outside the off stump, Saurabh Netravalkar sent him back to the pavilion after he edged the ball to be caught behind by the wicketkeeper.

It is worth noting that in the past, Virat Kohli has had difficulties against left-arm bowlers, and Saurabh Netravalkar was no exception. With the track helping the fast bowlers, Saurabh Netravalkar's delivery moved after pitching and Virat Kohli was unable to handle it, thus losing his wicket for naught against the hosts.

Meanwhile, his former Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) teammate Dinesh Karthik predicted the ex-India captain's return to form in crunch games of the ICC event.

“Rohit just got a 50 in first match. How much can he score on these pitches? Team itself is only scoring 100. Don't worry about Virat Kohli. He will score when it matters,” Dinesh Karthik told Cricbuzz.

“He is never not performed in the World Cup, and there is no doubt about this World Cup too. He will 100 percent perform. Cometh the hour, cometh the man. Virat Kohli will be there. We have qualified for the Super Eight. I promise you, he will be all guns blazing once we reach the Caribbean,” he elaborated.

Like Dinesh Karthik, ex-Team India coach Sanjay Bangar warned Rohit Sharma against changing Virat Kohli's batting position in the upcoming games of the T20 World Cup.

Sanjay Bangar suggested that such a move would unsettle the Indian batting line-up, which could be detrimental to their chances of winning the tournament.

“Yes, he had a fabulous IPL and he played at a pace which wasn't really seen in recent years. So that sort of raised the expectation that he would go to the US and West Indies and play in that particular fashion,” Sanjay Bangar told Star Sports.

“This is something that is not dependent on a particular batsman. He will obviously assess the situation, assess the conditions, and bat accordingly. So it's not that the way we want him to bat, he is going to bat. He will bat differently,” he added.

“Coming at this point, changing his batting position will sort of also lead to unsettling the other batsmen like you have settled and contributing number three in Rishabh Pant. You want to have somebody like Shivam Dube at five. Surya has got to bat at four. So in a way, the batting has sort of settled,” Sanjay Bangar continued.

“It's not that Virat hasn't scored runs for India, opening the batting in T20 internationals. He hasn't done that for India in the World Cup, so it's just a matter of time,” he concluded.