Virat Kohli, one of India's best-ever batters, is having a rare lean patch. In the current ODI series against Australia, Kohli was dismissed for a duck in back-to-back matches in Perth and Adelaide. In fact, this is the first time in his entire international career Kohli has recorded back-to-back ducks at the international level, which has shocked many fans and analysts alike.

Although Kohli has gone through poor form before, his drop in form during the 2022 IPL season provides a view into a similar run of form. Kohli gave up the captaincy at the end of the 2021 season and had to play purely as a batter for RCB. In 16 matches played in the 2022 season, Kohli managed just 341 runs, averaging 22.73 at a strike rate of 115.99. In that season, Kohli recorded three golden ducks, two of which came in back-to-back matches, but in his illustrious career the two matches were a brief blip.

Kohli’s Rare Lean Patch: IPL Struggles to ODI Ducks Against Australia

The first of those IPL ducks came against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), hwas caught at point off Dushmantha Chameera. The next game, he was dismissed by Marco Jansen as RCB had been bowled out for just 68 runs. Kohli's third duck of the season came against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the reverse fixture. In hindsight, he went on the RCB Insider and quipped, "First-ball ducks. After the second one I actually understood how it feels to be helpless. It has never happened to me in my career... now that I have seen everything. It has been a long time and I am now seeing everything in this game."

ALSO SEE: [WATCH] Rohit Sharma celebrates 59th ODI fifty on his return during AUS vs IND 2nd ODI in Adelaide

Since that IPL incident, Kohli has enjoyed a streak of three seasons without a duck, so a pair of consecutive ODI failures against Australia in 2025 would mark a major shift for virat. Kohli's slump does not minimize all that he is and has done. Kohli is still one of the most feared batters in world cricket: fans should expect him to return to form soon, continuing to reset the benchmarks in international cricket.

When a player experiences a rough patch, it is not the first or the last, but with Kohli's experience, it is likely that it will not be too long before he returns to form. The cricketing world will be watching closely to see if he can put this double failure behind him and affirm his place among modern greats.