Playing his first international series since the Champions Trophy seven months ago, Kohli, despite the lack of competitive action, was expected to pick up from where he left off in March this year, given that he would be up against his favourite opponent. But the farewell tour of Australia hasn’t gone according to plan yet. He was dismissed for an eight-ball duck by Mitchell Starc in Perth last week, and then was undone by a nip-backer from Xavier Bartlett on Thursday in the second game in Adelaide, also for a duck. This was the first time in his career that he failed to get off the mark in consecutive ODI innings.

With just the Sydney ODI remaining in the series, which will be held on Saturday, former India head coach Ravi Shastri has urged Kohli to show urgency in finding his form quickly and cementing his spot in the World Cup squad.

On Thursday, after the end of India’s innings, Shastri told Fox Sports that the next edition of the ODI World Cup was a “long way off” for Kohli.

“He’ll have to get some form pretty quickly,” Shastri said. “The competition for places is such in India in white-ball cricket, no one is going to relax, whether it’s Virat or Rohit or anyone in the team.”

Times have changed significantly over the last seven months in Indian cricket, which has been undergoing a transition phase. And with an abundance of options to choose from, no single player is a certainty across formats anymore, not even the legendary Kohli. In the ODI set-up, he already has the likes of Yashasvi Jaiswal, Tilak Verma and Abhishek Sharma breathing down his neck.

“It’s not going to be easy, there is competition,” Shastri added. “He’s missed out again today, he was a little tentative with his footwork.

“It doesn’t happen often, his record in one-day cricket is phenomenal, so for him to get two ducks on the trot, he’ll be disappointed.”