Bowlers who have dismissed Virat Kohli the most number of times

Virat Kohli (Getty Images)
NEW DELHI: With exceptional hard work, dedication and an almost immaculate ability to focus, Virat Kohli has maintained his dominance in international cricket in the last few years. There have been instances where the Indian skipper has just looked phenomenal with the bat. Kohli's figures across formats have made him the best in the world and with constant improvements and adjusting to the ever-changing dynamics of the game, Kohli has managed to stay at the top of the world rankings.

But there have been instances, though not too many, where the bowlers have consistently got the better of the batting maestro. On a few occasions, Kohli has not been able to find that panache in his batting that he is famous for. Recently, on the 2020 New Zealand tour, he struggled a bit in the Tests.

Few of the bowlers seem to have figured out how to get the better of the Indian run machine.

TimesofIndia.com here takes a look at the bowlers who have dismissed Virat Kohli most number of times in international cricket, across all three formats:

Tim Southee (New Zealand - 10 times)

Tim Southee has been the spearhead of the New Zealand pace attack for a while now. With the ability to swing the ball both ways, Southee has been a world class seamer in recent times. And on top of that, the 31-year-old has developed a mastery in getting the better of the top batsmen in the world. Talking about one of the best in modern-day cricket -- Virat Kohli -- Southee has dismissed the Indian skipper the most number of times in international cricket, combined in all formats. The Kiwi pacer has got the better of Kohli on 10 occasions in 31 matches. Thrice in five Tests, a record six times in ODIs and once in the shortest format. So, with these impressive figures, Southee has been able to trump the world's best batsman the most times. With his impeccable line and length, Southee has been able to get the better of Virat, where on 5 occasions he has been caught by the fielder (including slips), twice caught by the wicket-keeper, on two occasions trapped in front of the wicket and one a bowled dismissal. Southee has troubled Kohli the most in New Zealand where he has got the batting maestro out 6 times across formats, including on India's tours in 2014 and 2020.

James Anderson and Graeme Swann (England - 8 times)

One of the worst phases of Virat Kohli's international career was India's tour of England back in 2014 where he had a series of low totals in Tests. And the chief architect of that horrendous outing was England pacer James Anderson, dismissing Kohli four times. Anderson during that tour got the better of Kohli on most occasions, making him suffer in the English conditions along with the rest of the England bowlers. Along with that Anderson also dismissed Kohli once during the Kolkata Test in 2012 and thrice in ODIs to take his tally to 8 in 29 matches against Kohli. Graeme Swann, meanwhile also dismissed Kohli eight times in 16 matches during his England career, which included three dismissals during the Test series in India in 2012, 4 times in ODIs in 2011 and on one occasion in a T20I match in Colombo in 2012.

Morne Morkel (South Africa), Nathan Lyon (Australia), Adam Zampa (Australia), Ravi Rampaul (West Indies) - 7 times

Virat Kohli, in the recent past has been a difficult customer to handle for the bowlers. With his sublime run in international cricket, bowlers more often than not have struggled terribly against him. But even then, the likes of Adam Zampa and Nathan Lyon have somewhat found some shortcomings in Kohli's flawless batting. Zampa has recently troubled Kohli a lot. In the 2019 and 2020 home series against Australia, Kohli was caught off-guard by Zampa on five occasions in four ODIs and a T20I. Prior to that Zampa dismissed Kohli in an ODI and a T20I, taking his tally to 7 against India's No.1 batsman in 21 face-offs. While Zampa has been troubling Kohli in the limited-overs format, his partner Nathan Lyon has been a difficult bowler to handle for Virat in the longest format. Lyon, since 2013, has dismissed Kohli seven times in Test cricket. However in white-ball cricket, Lyon is yet to dismiss the Indian captain. In a total of 25 encounters, Lyon has got rid of Kohli seven times. Along with the Aussie spinners, Morne Morkel from South Africa and Ravi Rampaul of West Indies have also dismissed Kolhi seven times in 29 and 17 international matches respectively.

(*The total number of matches in this article include Tests, ODIs and T20Is)