Will Kohli retain his spot for the England Tests, or has the curtain fallen on his Test career?
The face of Indian batting post the great Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli's struggles have reached an all-time low. He yelled at himself and punched his thigh, as he got out for the eighth time edging behind the wicket in his nine visits to the crease in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series.
The 36-year-old's career was hanging by a thread after he once again fell victim to his weakness outside the off-stump on the second day of the fifth and final Test against Australia, the bowler being the self-effacing but relentless Scott Boland.
His problems seem unsolvable at the moment as it is more mental than technical.
The sameness in the mode of his dismissals mean it has become his second nature to push away from the body at deliveries on the corridor of uncertainty.
Kohli batted in nine innings across five Tests and barring the second innings century at Perth in the opening Test, and a 36 in the first innings in Melbourne, he has failed to get going.
Remove the 136 runs he had aggregated over his two innings in Perth and Melbourne, and Kohli is left with just 54 runs across his seven other completed knocks.
For a player of Kohli’s stature, the thought of calling time on his career isn’t an easy one. Despite murmurs about his Test future, Kohli has no plans to retire and aims to play until the 2027 ODI World Cup.
Former India coach Ravi Shastri has backed him, but a former selector questions how Kohli can justify selection for the England Tests in June without playing red-ball cricket.
"It would be very hard for selectors to pick either Rohit Sharma or Virat Kohli on the basis of IPL performance or form. There has to be some red-ball cricket for them in lead-up to England tour. Else you can't justify their selections," the former selector told PTI.
If sources are to be believed there is no indication as of now that Kohli intends to play the Ranji Trophy for Dekhi, which resumes from January 23.
Delhi will play Saurashtra from January 23-26 in an away game in Rajkot, followed by a match against Railways from January 30 to February 2.
However, playing domestic red-ball cricket in India in January and February for Test matches in England in June practically won't make sense.
Kohli lives in his new home in London for better part and only joins the national team or IPL side before the start of a series or tournament.
India's next assignment is a three-match ODI series against England from February 6 followed by the Champions Trophy (from February 19 to March 9) and then the IPL starts on March 14.
Clearly, there is no window to play any red-ball tournament for preparation unless he skips the IPL for a county stint to gear up for the England tour.
Kohli is one of the biggest brands of the IPL and he won't be losing a chance to captain RCB once again this year and fulfil his dream of winning at least one IPL trophy before drawing the curtains on his glorious career.
The only other option left is talking to selectors and playing at least couple of India A games during its shadow tour to England just before the senior team's tour begins with the first Test at Leeds from June 18.
As of now, the senior batter has played his last Test in Australia. But when the name is as big as Virat Kohli, a twist in the tale can never be ruled out.