Virat Kohli’s lack of daddy hundreds a worry for India

Virat Kohli’s lack of daddy hundreds a worry for India

As batsmen continue enjoy perennial advantage over bowlers with pitches getting flatter around the globe, there is still an area in which the batsmen have been caught short; scoring the “daddy hundreds”. There is no clarity who derived the term, but a few years ago Graham Gooch trained the likes of Alastair Cook, Ian Bell, Kevin Pietersen, Jonathan Trott and many others to get mastery over it. In Test cricket, getting to just the hundred is he just the half job done, it is imperative that the batsmen get many more runs once set. Nikhil Popat observes that Virat Kohli suffers in this particular aspect.

India were in good position after lunch on Day Two of the first Test against Sri Lanka at Galle. They bowled out the hosts for 183 and were cruising when both Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli shared a stand in excess of 200 to get India into the lead. It is important at times like these that teams make the starts count, but India stuttered in a way. They suffered a mini collapse from 227 for two to 304 for six within an hour, losing the opportunity to ‘out-bat’ Sri Lanka. India lost four wickets for only 77 runs.

Kohli scored his fourth Test ton in as many games as the Indian Test captain but there is a pattern to his dismissals. He brought up his 11th Test ton and his eighth ton away from home. Those are superb numbers, but for someone who is considered one of the best in the business, Kohli seems to be suffering from loss of concentration often once he reaches the milestone.

Out of the 11 Test tons, Kohli has gone past the score of 120 just the four times. For someone who bats in the top four, it is crucial to make the start count for himself and for the team. The lack of penchant for the big scores has hurt India often resulting in collapses like the one that happened in Adelaide, when India lost needing 120 runs with eight wickets in hand in the final session of the Test. Read: Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma approach BCCI to persuade ICC to allow coloured clothing in Tests

If you compare Kohli with other contemporary cricketers like Joe Root and Steven Smith, who also have been in good form, he falls short. Smith, in his last six tons has had four scores of over 150. Root has done even better, his lowest score after scoring hundred in his last attempts in Test cricket is 130. Kohli has some catch up to do in terms of scoring the big runs.

Getting those “daddy hundreds” are crucial for him being a top order batsmen since India has been in commanding position with him going well, but his wicket has often triggered a collapse of sorts.

Kohli is back among the runs, which is good for him but if he can get the big scores in, it will help India maintain their control over the game for a longer period of time. Knowing the history of India’s batting lower down the order, Kohli’s fall has triggered a collapse in the past and he should rather take it up to himself to ensure he gets a big score once he has got his eye in.

Kohli has eight scores in the range of 100 to 120, which has not helped him dominate attacks. He has often got to the milestone but instead of putting his head down to keep going on, he has lost intensity and fallen soon after crossing three figure-mark. Read: India vs Sri Lanka 2015: Virat Kohli’s captaincy will steer a new beginning

For those interested, India’s last double ton came way back in 2013, when MS Dhoni hit a magnificent 224 against Australia at Chennai to set up a 4-0 whitewash.

Since the start of 2012, India has had 35 Test centuries but only three of those are over a score of 200.  Only 9 of those scores are over 150 runs and Kohli features just once in the top list. The remaining 10 have been below 150.

The below table shows how poor India have been in the last five years. India do not have many players getting a score of over 175.

India are languishing in the bottom half of the table and it is an area for them to improve. With Kohli wanting to lead India from the front with the bat, he will have to learn to put his head down and score the big hundreds to help India dominate games in Test cricket more. Read: Virat Kohli’s trial by fire as Test captain begins with tour of Sri Lanka

(Nikhil Popat is diehard cricket enthusiast and a PotterHead till the end of time. He can be followed on Twitter @CricCrazyNIKS)