Virat Kohli’s form has become a major concern for the Indian team ahead of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia but 1983 World Cup winner Krishnamachari Srikkanth believes that the former captain will come good during the tour. Kohli has hit a low point in his Test career and scored just 250 runs in the last six Tests at an underwhelming average of 22.72 and hit just one half-century. The batting maestro struggled miserably against spinners in the three-match Test series against New Zealand, where India suffered an embarrassing whitewash.
Kohli has a terrific record against Australia. He has scored 2042 runs in 25 Tests at an average of 47.48, including 8 centuries. He also enjoyed batting in the country, having scored 1352 runs in 13 Tests at an astonishing average of 54.08 with six centuries. Srikkanth asserted that Kohli still has a lot of time and it is too early to write him off.
“In my opinion, Virat Kohli will start doing in Australia (comeback). His area is Australia. I think that’s his strength. I think it’s too early to talk like this about Virat Kohli (moving on from him). I won’t accept it. Virat Kohli has got a lot of time. One or two bad years of Test cricket,” Srikkanth said on his YouTube channel.
Kohli’s dip in form this year
Kohli has not been at his best this year with the bat in white-ball formats, too; he hasn’t been able to create any impact apart from the T20 World Cup final knock, after which he retired from T20Is. He has scored just 58 runs in 3 ODIs this year.
In the recently concluded home Test season, Kohli could only put in 192 runs in 10 innings, averaging 21.33, with just one fifty and the best score of 70. His scores during this home season feature: 6, 17, 47, 29*, 0, 70, 1, 17, 4 and 1.
Under Kohli’s leadership, India became the first Asian team to register for a Test series win in Australia during the 2018-19 tour.
The much-awaited Border-Gavaskar Trophy will commence with the first Test–a day match–at Perth Stadium from November 22 to November 26, setting the tone for the series. The second Test, scheduled for December 6 to 10 at Adelaide Oval, will feature the exciting day-night format under the stadium’s lights.
