Star India batter Virat Kohli looked good in the rescheduled fifth Test match against England at Edgbaston but failed to convert his starts in both the innings. The former India captain managed to score a total of 31 runs in his two essays in Birmingham, as his long lean patch with the bat continued. While he was dismissed for 11 in the first innings as he played on to the stumps, in the second essay, Virat Kohli received a jaffa from England captain Ben Stokes, only to be sent back to the pavilion for 20. Unfortunately for Virat Kohli, he got starts but couldn't convert them to big scores. He will now have to wait for a long time for his next Test century as India will be back playing the longest format of the game in November. By then it will be three years without a ton for him in the whites. Former India pacer Zaheer Khan had a unique take on Virat Kohli's prolonged slump in form. Zaheer Khan said that it is because Virat Kohli has set the bar so high, that his batting woes have been highlighted as much as they are.
Zaheer Khan also claimed that Virat Kohli would be feeling utterly disappointed with his recent batting displays because he is a player who thrives on a challenge but was unable to do so this time around.
“Take any player for that matter and especially a player like Virat Kohli will surely be sad. Because he set a higher standard for himself. And the expectations that fans have for him…. Like we all know, who are the so-called fab four? Steve Smith, Joe Root, Kane Williamson and Virat Kohli. So, whenever somebody else scores, he is also being taken note of. Even if you are also saying that ‘see, Joe Root has scored, so Virat Kohli must also score.' So, that's how he is being compared,” Zaheer Khan said on Former India pacer Zaheer Khan shared his views on Virat Kohli's prolonged slump in form after his twin failures against England..
“Obviously, by his very own standards, he would like to come back to that form that we haven’t seen for some time. He was looking good in the second innings, he just got out to a very good ball.”
Meanwhile, former England captain Michael Vaughan advised out-of Virat Kohli to take a sabbatical from cricket to rejuvenate his career.
“I look at Virat in particular. I knew he had a little bit of a rest at the end of the IPL. But he just looks to me like he needs a sabbatical. He looks like he needs three months away from cricket. Go and sit on a beach,” Michael Vaughan said during an interaction with Cricbuzz.
“Go and do what you can with your family because a career of 20 years, which he probably will end up getting because he's such a good player. To have a three months break, is it going to affect him? No. Will it help him? Yes,” he added.
Till 2019, Virat Kohli was tipped to break Sachin Tendulkar’s world record of scoring 100 tons in international cricket as he had already hit 70 hundreds by then. But the wait for his 71st three-figure score seemed to have become endless now.
Till 2019, Virat Kohli was tipped to break Sachin Tendulkar’s world record of scoring 100 tons in international cricket as he had already hit 70 centuries by then. But the wait for his 71st three-figure score seemed to have become endless now.
Despite his 31-month lull, Virat Kohli has extraordinary numbers in ODIs, having struck 43 centuries in the 50-over format. Tendulkar, on the other hand, has 49 hundreds to his name in One-Day Internationals.
Though Virat Kohli’s comparisons with Sachin Tendulkar have disappeared in recent days, former England pacer Darren Gough revealed that when he first saw the current talisman of the Indian cricket team, he had compared him with the Little Master.
“When I first saw him playing in England, I thought, WOW… I thought Tendulkar was good. He was brilliant, a genius in fact, but this guy Virat Kohli is right up there with him. Amazing player, such style, aggression… everything I wanted to look for in a cricketer. He can take on the short ball, good against spin. He has got that arrogance, puts the cap on as well now and again,” Darren Gough told Cricket.com.
“I want him to get back scoring hundreds. We have seen Joe Root used to go through that spell – a lot of 70s, 80s and 90s. But I feel that with Virat, once he gets one, he would just keep going – hundred, hundred, hundred. And that’s what Joe Root has done. Virat is going though that spell and he just needs to score that first one and then he is going to cash in for the next 3-4 years,” Darren Gough added.
Virat Kohli wasn’t included in India’s playing XI in the first T20I against England in Southampton as the entire Test squad which competed against the Ben Stokes-led side stayed back in Birmingham where the second T20 match will be played on Saturday.
Beginning this weekend, Virat Kohli would have five matches, two T20Is, and 3 ODIs to regain form because failures in these matches could put his spot in the limited-overs side, especially in the shortest format of the game under considerable strain.
The BCCI has rested him from the upcoming ODI series against the West Indies.
Virat Kohli will be back donning India colors on Saturday where he is expected to be back in India's playing XI for the second T20I against England in Birmingham.
India currently lead the three-match T20I series against the Three Lions 1-0, having beaten England at Southampton by 50 runs.
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