India legend’s cryptic post raises eyebrows as heat on Kohli ramps up

Virat Kohli’s farewell tour of Australia hasn’t gone to plan thus far, and a former Indian teammate has made a cryptic suggestion about his glittering one-day career.

Having retired from Tests and T20I, the Indian superstar almost certainly won’t play another international match on Australian soil following this week’s ODI campaign down under.

And now, the pressure is growing on Kohli to keep his ODI spot for the 2027 World Cup.

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The 36-year-old, arguably the greatest white-ball cricketer in history, was dismissed for a duck during Sunday’s series opener at Perth Stadium, while a sold-out crowd passed through the turnstiles on Thursday to witness his final appearance at one of his favourite venues — Adelaide Oval.

Kohli had accumulated 975 runs at 65.00 across format at the iconic venue, where he celebrated his maiden Test hundred in 2012. He boasts five hundreds in the South Australian capital, more than any other venue.

However, the right-hander only lasted four deliveries in Thursday’s two-wicket defeat to seal the series, trapped on the pads by Australian seamer Xavier Bartlett for another duck — the first time in his illustrious ODI career that he has been toppled without scoring in consecutive matches.

Prior to Tuesday’s one-day international, Kohli had been caught behind the wicket on the off-side an eye-watering nine times in a row.

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Despite his undeniable talent and glittering resume, Kohli will be under mounting pressure to keep his spot in the ODI starting XI ahead of the 2027 World Cup, especially with the likes of Yashasvi Jaiswal and Abhishek Sharma waiting in the wings.

And late on Thursday night, former star and teammate of Kohli, Ravi Ashwin, took to social media platform X to post a cryptic picture hinting perhaps it was time for Kohli to call time on his one-day career.

The picture, posted without caption, is of the Nike logo coloured in the orange, white and green of the Indian flag, with the tagline ‘Just Leave It’ instead of the well-known company slogan ‘Just Do It’. Kohli is a Nike athlete.

However, others have theorised the post was a reference to Ashwin’s leave on the penultimate delivery of India’s unforgettable T20 World Cup victory over Pakistan at the MCG in 2022. It was shared on the three-year anniversary of that match.

During the innings break on Thursday, Indian legend Ravi Shastri acknowledged the next edition of the World Cup was a “long way off” for Kohli.

“He’ll have to get some form pretty quickly,” Shastri said.

“The competition for places is such in India in white-ball cricket, no one is going to relax, whether it’s Virat or Rohit or anyone in the team.

“It’s not going to be easy, there is competition.

“He’s missed out again today; he was a little tentative with his footwork.

“It doesn’t happen often, his record in one-day cricket is phenomenal, so for him to get two ducks on the trot, he’ll be disappointed.”

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