Published: Mar 03, 2023, 08:02 AM (IST)
Edited: Mar 03, 2023, 08:14 AM (IST)
New Delhi: It’s been a while since Virat Kohli scored a Test hundred for India. Kohli’s last Test century came against Bangladesh in the Day-Night Test at Eden Garden in 2019. Kohli has looked good in patches but he hasn’t been able to convert the starts into a century.
He has scored a few centuries recently in limited-overs cricket but his struggle in Test cricket is still on. With an average of a mere 25.70 in red-ball cricket since his last hundred, Kohli has performed way below expectations and concerns are now being raised about his place in the Test team.
The only positive for Kohli during this lean patch is that he has looked comfortable at the crease during the time he is in the middle. However, the temperament and ability to play the ball on merit consistently is missing. Kohli has played some poor shots after getting set, leading to his downfall which is slightly disappointing.
Former Australia skipper Mark Waugh is surprised at Kohli’s struggle and said he cannot believe that a player of Kohli’s class has not scored a Test century in the last three years.
“I cannot believe a player of his class has gone that long without a hundred,” former Australia batter Mark Waugh said on Fox Cricket.
Waugh, however, is optimistic that a big knock from Virat Kohli is not too far away.
“He’s been in good touch recently, he’s batted well in one-day cricket. I know it’s not Test match cricket, but the signs have been there in his last three innings in Test cricket that he’s actually playing pretty well.
“He’s middling the ball, he’s watching the ball well, and his defence is strong. He’s just making the odd error and it’s proving costly for him. He hasn’t had a lot of luck. He makes one mistake and he’s out.
“He’s a world-class player and I feel like a hundred is just around the corner for him. He’s feeling the pressure, no doubt about it … I feel like he is a little bit tense when he goes out there in the middle.”
Waugh continued and pointed out the big mistake in Virat Kohli’s batting. “He actually does play with quite hard hands, he likes to feel bat on ball. That dismissal in the first innings he just played that too square, if he played that to mid on he would have been okay, but he played it around his front pad.
“He does tend to plant his front foot, which technically is not a great thing to do in India. We have seen him play back in the crease in a couple of innings, which is quite well-suited to slower pitches. There’s no obvious weakness, but he seems to make one mistake and he’s gone.”
“Virat Kohli was outstanding in that first innings, he looked in control,” former Australian wicketkeeper Brad Haddin said on Fox Cricket. Then there was one mistake, he played around his front pad. It’s a bit of luck on this surface to bat for long periods of time.”
