Former India head coach Ravi Shastri delivered a stark assessment of Virat Kohli's form woes following the star batter's second consecutive duck in the ongoing ODI series against Australia, declaring the 2027 ODI World Cup "a long way off" for the veteran on October 24, 2025. Kohli, dismissed for a painstaking eight-ball nought in the series opener at Perth, repeated the unwanted feat here at Adelaide Oval, falling to a clever slower ball from emerging pacer Xavier Bartlett after facing just four deliveries. This marked the first instance of back-to-back ducks in Kohli's storied 50-over career, silencing the crowd and amplifying concerns over his white-ball future amid India's transitional phase under new captain Shubman Gill and coach Gautam Gambhir.

Shastri, whose successful coach-captain partnership with Kohli from 2017 to 2021 revolutionised Indian cricket through enhanced fitness regimes, overseas Test triumphs, and a pace bowling renaissance, emphasised the cutthroat competition for spots in the limited-overs setup. "He'll have to get some form pretty quickly. The competition for places in India's white-ball cricket is such that no one can afford to relax—whether it's Virat, Rohit, or anyone else in the team. It's not going to be easy; there is competition," Shastri remarked on Fox Sports. He noted Kohli's tentative footwork in the second ODI, a rarity for a player with a phenomenal ODI record of over 13,000 runs at an average exceeding 58, adding, "It doesn't happen often... for him to get two ducks on the trot, he'll be disappointed."

The 36-year-old Kohli entered the Adelaide crease with high expectations, given his cherished history at the venue where he has amassed 1,086 ODI runs at an average of 76.14, including four centuries. Yet, in what could be his farewell appearance at the iconic ground—considering the 2027 World Cup's two-year horizon and his recent Test retirement—Bartlett's guile exposed vulnerabilities in Kohli's setup against slower deliveries. This slump follows a mixed T20 World Cup campaign earlier in 2025 and raises questions about his role in white-ball rebuilds, especially as younger talents like Yashasvi Jaiswal and Sai Sudharsan vie for middle-order berths.

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With Australia securing a two-wicket thriller to seal a 2-0 series lead, Shastri's candid verdict underscores the urgency for Kohli to rediscover rhythm ahead of the dead-rubber third ODI and the T20I leg. While the duo's past synergy yielded 72 wins in 107 ODIs, the current landscape demands adaptation from a player who has defined Indian batting for over a decade. Kohli's response in the coming matches could dictate whether the 2027 marquee event remains a viable target or fades into retrospection.

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