NEW DELHI: India were considered the firm favourites in therun up to the ICC World Cup 2019 and even during the team’s journey in thetournament, they emerged as formidable opponents who could cruise through allrivals with ease. However, the journey came to a sad end when New Zealandknocked India out of the World Cup in the semi-final match at Old Trafford in Manchester.

Team India’s top order batsmen – Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul andskipper Virat Kohli – who had played some extraordinary innings during thegroup stage matches, failed to perform when it mattered the most. The BlackCaps decimated the Men in Blue in a rain-hit match to enter the final of ICCWorld Cup 2019.

A worrying trend that emerged out of India’s batting was theinnings of captain Kohli, who was declared leg before wicket off Trent Boultafter scoring just one run off six balls. It was for the third consecutive timethat Kohli failed to perform in the semi-finals of World Cup tournaments.Havingfeatured in three world cup semis, Kohli, who is often brilliant with his bat,scored a maximum of just nine runs in the match against Pakistan in Mohali in2011. In the other two semi-finals – 2015 and 2019 – Kohli scored just one runeach against Australia and New Zealand.In the quarter final match againstAustralia in Ahmedabad in 2011, Kohli had scored just 24 runs, playing 33 balls.However, the Men in Blue sailed through and even lifted the trophy in thefinale. However, even in the final match against Sri Lanka, Kohli could scorejust 35 runs off 49 balls.

In the 2015 edition of ICC World Cup, when India metBangladesh in the quarter-final (knockout), Kohli played eight balls and scoredjust three runs.

Kohli has played six World Cup knockout matches so far andhas scored a total of 73 runs in them. His batting average in these matches is12.16 and strike rate 56.15.However, the firebrand cricketer has performedbetter in Champions Trophy knockout matches, barring the 2017 final againstPakistan, where he could score just five runs. In the semi-final of thetournament against Bangladesh, he had scored an unbeaten 96 on 78 balls. In theknockout matches of 2013 edition of the Champions Trophy as well, Kohli hadplayed well, scoring 58 and 43 against Sri Lanka (semi-final) and England(final), respectively.

Kohli’s best performance in the knockout stages comes in theshortest format of the game – Twenty20.