'Virat never used to do like this earlier': Ex-India batter pinpoints Kohli's major area of concern after 1st T20I

Kohli on Wednesday fell prey to Fabian Allen for 17. He had scores of eight, 18 and nought in India's ODI clean-sweep of the West Indies.

Ravi Bishnoi's two for 17 from his four overs and Rohit Sharma's 40 off 19 balls put India in control and the hosts registered a comfortable six-wicket win over the West Indies in the T20I series opener on Wednesday. Needing 158 for victory, Ishan Kishan (35 from 42) struggled to get going before Suryakumar Yadav chipped in with an unbeaten 34 off 18 deliveries, helping India pull off the chase with seven balls to spare.

Virat Kohli (PTI)

The Indian team's batting display also featured former skipper Virat Kohli, who once again failed to notch up a big score. Waiting to score an international ton for over two years now, Kohli fell prey to Fabian Allen for 17. He had scores of eight, 18 and nought in India's ODI clean-sweep of the West Indies.

Former India cricketer Aakash Chopra also reviewed Kohli's yet another lifeless outing, saying the mercurial batter's failure is no longer a rare occurrence.

"Virat Kohli did not score runs again and the way he is getting out, that's very unlike him. We are doing very little conversation about Virat Kohli, which is never a good thing. We are not even talking about him, that is hurting me, that must be hurting him," said Chopra on his YouTube channel.

"A good player's recognizance is that his name is written with prominence in any report card, it is his story even on the day when he fails because 40 for Kohli is a failure, 40 for Aakash is a success," he further said.

Before the start of the T20I series, Kohli had received support from new skipper Rohit and the team's batting coach Vikram Rathour. Rohit had dismissed concerns around Kohli's poor form, saying "everything will fall in place" if the media chatter around him stops.

But Chopra shed light on the amount of risk that Kohli's been taking, which was not correlated with his batting in the past. While dissecting Kohli's dismissal, the cricketer-turned-commentator bracketed the star player's vulnerable batting approach as a matter of concern.

"The way Kohli got out, discipline was making him the greatest batter on the planet, what would have happened if that shot had gone for a six? Nothing would have happened, you wouldn't have won the match because of that six.

"Virat Kohli never used to do like this earlier, that if a six is not required, he never used to hit it and scored through singles or fours. He was risk-averse, that he will not play the risky shots at all. That is what Virat was all about but now he is not playing like that and that is a bit of a concern," Chopra elaborated.