Getting Virat Kohli out is a hellish job for any bowler in Cricket!
It is always difficult for a bowler to get a batsman out when the batsman is immune to making a mistake.
Notably, among the current generation top-order batsmen, Virat has the most not-out innings in all formats combined – 61.
Overall, he outranked legendary Ricky Ponting and Desmond Haynes, and tops the list already.
Most importantly, 43 of these 61 came while chasing. No surprise, he is called the chase master.
Overall, Virat Kohli has
- the 2nd highest runs tally in ODI while chasing
- the best batting average in ODI while chasing &
- the highest number of ODI centuries while chasing
Amazing, isn’t it?
You can find here about the updated table-charts of Virat’s complete chasing records in ODI cricket!
So, we can now come to a conclusion- it is extremely difficult to get Virat out in ‘you can name the format’.
While this may be true, there are bowlers, who have been successful in more than a few occasions in getting the master batsman out for their country.
So do you want to know, “Who is the best bowler against Virat Kohli?”,
Well, read ahead!
Bowlers Dismissing Virat Kohli Most Times in Test Cricket:
Here is the list of bowlers who have successfully achieved the feat of dismissing Virat Kohli more than twice in Test Cricket.
| BOWLER | DISMISSALS | INNINGS |
|---|---|---|
| Nathon Lyon (AUS) | 7 | 36 |
| James Anderson (ENG) | 7 | 36 |
| Moeen Ali (ENG) | 6 | 17 |
| Ben Stokes (ENG) | 6 | 20 |
| Mitchell Starc (AUS) | 6 | 26 |
| Scott Boland (AUS) | 5 | 7 |
| Pat Cummins (AUS) | 5 | 19 |
| Peter Siddle (AUS) | 5 | 13 |
| Josh Hazlewood (AUS) | 5 | 17 |
| Kagiso Rabada (SA) | 5 | 20 |
Stats-watch
I see Pat Cummins and Scott Boland of Australia, so far the best bowler against Virat Kohli in Test even though Nathan Lyon (Australia) currently holds the record for dismissing Virat Kohli, the most number of times in Test Cricket – 7 times, along with James Anderson who also has dismissed Virat the same number of times.
Cummins has dismissed Virat 5 times in 19 innings the duo have played against each other, whereas Scott Boland has bettered the modern-day Indian great 5 times in 7 innings.
Likewise, Virat Kohli vs James Anderson has always been a key battle, whenever India and England play against in Test cricket.
When Indian team toured England back in 2014, Virat was made a walking duck by Jimmy, who dismissed him 4 times in that series.
It was Virat’s first tour to England.
In 5 test matches in that series, Virat came back scoring a streak of flop-scores – 1, 8, 25, 0, 39, 28, 0, 7, 6 and 20; a total of 134 runs in 10 innings at an average of 13.50.
Luckily for India, that stayed as the only off-series for Virat in his Test career!
In 2016, when England came back to play Tests in India, Virat Kohli was in a sublime form and smashed 655 runs, as India clean-swiped that series 4-0.
And, when India travelled back to England in 2018, this time under the captaincy of Virat Kohli, for a tour including 5 Tests, James Anderson could never pick a single wicket of Virat Kohli.
Interestingly, James Anderson was the leading wicket-taker of that series – 24. Although he could never pick a single Virat Kohli wicket, who ended up the leading run-scorer of that series.
Even though there were times when Anderson was able to threaten Virat in that series few times, it was a battle won by Virat, even though when the series was lost 4-1 by his team.
Bowlers Dismissing Virat Kohli Most Times in ODI Cricket:
| BOWLERS | DISMISSALS | INNINGS |
|---|---|---|
| Tim Southee (NZ) | 7 | 18 |
| Ravi Rampaul (WI) | 6 | 10 |
| Adam Zampa (AUS) | 6 | 15 |
| Josh Hazlewood (AUS) | 5 | 9 |
| Jason Holder (WI) | 5 | 19 |
| Thisara Perera (SL) | 5 | 24 |
| Adil Rashid (ENG) | 5 | 10 |
| Shakib Al Hasan (BAN) | 5 | 11 |
| Suraj Randiv (SL) | 4 | 8 |
| Morne Morkel (SA) | 4 | 18 |
Stats-watch
Without any doubt, ODI is the best format of Virat. We have plenty of proofs for that too. You can also say that by looking at the numbers above.
He has 44 not-out innings in his 200+ ODI innings, which is relatively a good figure for someone who walks in at No.3, most of his career.
Looking into that table, Ravi Rampaul’s number might be a little camouflaging, as the dismissals have happened mostly in the early stage of Virat’s career.
We know how Virat has evolved over the years.
Even the others in that list met Virat mostly at his early days, except Jhye Richardson and Jason Holder, who are, to me, the successful bowlers against Virat, when he is at his best. I also can feel that one of these two might top this list in the coming days.
Thisara Perera picked him out 5 times in the 24 times they met, which is again a sub-standard ODI stat on the bowler’s side. On the contrary, Josh Hazlewood came better of Virat 5 times in the 9 times they battled each other.
Then there are Suraj Randiv of Sri Lanka and Adam Zampa of Australia, who made Virat work hard for his stay in the field.
In the recent times, Adil Rashid has come good against Virat often times. Find out Virat’s record against leg-spinners in all format here.
Bowlers Dismissing Virat Kohli Most Times in T20I Cricket:
| BOWLERS | DISMISSALS | INNINGS |
|---|---|---|
| Chris Jordan (ENG) | 4 | 10 |
| Ish Sodhi (NZ) | 3 | 7 |
| Adam Zampa (AUS) | 3 | 12 |
| Peter Chase (IRE) | 2 | 2 |
| Stuart Meaker (ENG) | 2 | 2 |
| David Willey (ENG) | 2 | 3 |
| Kesrick Williams (WI) | 2 | 4 |
| Hamish Bennett(NZ) | 2 | 4 |
| Daniel Sams (AUS) | 2 | 4 |
| Sheldon Cottrell (WI) | 2 | 5 |
| Kagiso Rabada (SA) | 2 | 7 |
| Adil Rashid (ENG) | 2 | 9 |
