Virat Kohli Test dismissal modes overview: how many times has he been bowled, LBW, and caught?
Team India batter Virat Kohli's red-ball form is under scanner after a patchy run that dates back quite a while. The former skipper did show glimpses of form during the Bangladesh , but a significant score on a consistent basis continues to elude him.
The remainder of the home season, which includes three Tests against New Zealand, presents itself as an excellent opportunity for Kohli to find some rhythm ahead of the all-important Border-Gavaskar series.
Kohli was bowled, caught, and trapped LBW over the course of the three-match Test series against Bangladesh, and his wide array of mode of dismissals would be something that the bowlers would try to exploit.
In his career, Kohli has been dismissed through a wide array of modes, which are dissected below.
Bowled - 14 times (7.7%)
Out of 195 outings in Test cricket, Kohli has been bowled on 14 occasions, which includes his most recent dismissal against Shakib Al Hasan in the first innings of the second Test in Kanpur.
Kohli was not bowled across the first 18 innings of his red-ball career, until Graeme Swann broke the streak in the opening Test of the 2012 series in Ahmedabad.
The right-handed batter's impressive command of being aware of where his off-stump is, and his ability to play the incoming deliveries with command has led to him being bowled, a rarity. Furthermore, batting at No.4, he often does not have to deal with the new ball, which is often responsible for the most bowled dismissals.
Caught - 84 times (45.9%)
Batters usually fall prey to being caught, and Kohli is no different. Almost half of his Test outings have come to an end after a fielder has claimed a catch, and it hardly comes across as a surprise considering the ace batter's well-documented area of concern.
Kohli has often struggled the deliveries right outside the line of off-stump. While he is able to dispatch such balls to the boundary with the cover drive, it has also been his undoing on many occasions. His attempt to play a drive has often brought the outside edge into play, leading to him being caught in the slip cordon countless times.
Caught Behind - 40 times (21.9%)
Kohli's woes against the deliveries outside the off-stump naturally brings the wicket-keeper into play as well because of the outside edge. All five of Kohli's dismissals in his debut series were caught, with three of them involving the wicket-keeper.
If the wicket-keeper's catches are included in the caught category, then Kohli has been dismissed through this mode a total of 124 times, which is close to two-thirds mark out of all dismissals in his career.
LBW - 40 times (21.9%)
Kohli being trapped LBW, particularly against spinners, was a common sight. During the phase, the ace batter had often misread the length, affecting his judgment over whether he should play the delivery on the front foot or hang back on the back foot.
The latter became a common occurrence as he remained stuck on the backfoot against fullish deliveries by the spinners, trapping him right in front of the stumps. He was recently trapped LBW by Mehidy Hasan Miraz in the second innings of the first Test in Chennai.
The relative low bounce in the subcontinent also naturally brings the LBW dismissal into play for batters in the region slightly higher than overseas batters.
#Stumped - 1 time (0.5%)
Kohli has only been stumped once in his red-ball career. The instance came during the second Test of the 2023 Border-Gavaskar series in Delhi, when he was dragged outside the crease by off-spinner Todd Murphy, only to be stumped by Alex Carey.
He had gone 180 innings without being stumped in his Test career, before the streak came to an end.
#Run Out - 3 times (1.6%)
Kohli has been caught short of the crease while running between the wickets thrice in his Test career. The very first instance came during the second innings of the fourth Test against Australia in Adelaide.
After scoring his maiden Test ton in the first innings, Kohli was batting on 22 runs before he was run out. The second instance came nine years later, when he was run out at the same venue during the opening Test of the 2020-21 Border-Gavaskar series after a huge mix-up with Ajinkya Rahane.
The most recent instance of this particular mode of dismissal was during the tour of West Indies in 2023. He was run out for 121 in the second Test at the Queen's Park Oval.
#Hit-Wicket - 1 time (0.5%)
Kohli also has a rare hit-wicket dismissal on his records. He dislodged the stumps with his foot after getting it back following a pull shot off Adil Rashid during the first Test of the 2016 series against England in Rajkot.
He was dismissed in a similar manner against the same opposition during an ODI in Cardiff back in 2011.