Virat Kohli ended his century drought in Test cricket earlier this year with a sparkling 186 against Australia in Ahmedabad. It was the first time that Kohli had reached three figures in the format since November 2019 when India hosted Bangladesh for a day-night Test in Kolkata.
While he has scored century in all three formats in the past one year or so, Kohli will be itching to end another slump – hitting a hundred in an overseas Test.
The last time Kohli scored a century in an away Test was against Australia when he made 123 in Perth (December 2018). However, since then he has gone 19 Tests without reaching the milestone when playing at an overseas venue.
Kohli has come close on several occasions with the most recent being the first Test against West Indies in Dominica last week in which he scored 76 on what had become an increasingly difficult pitch to bat on.
India batting coach Vikram Rathour says Kohli’s good form went for a really long time and it was logical that there would be a slump at some point.
“His (Kohli’s) good form went for a really long time, nearly kept scoring for nine years. Cricket logic tells us that the lean phase was on the horizon. His good phase lasted a really long time and if there’s a loss of momentum, it will last for some time,” said Rathour on Sunday.
“The five years he hasn’t scored a century (overseas), three of them we were dealing with Covid. So there weren’t enough games, restrictions. So there’s not much to look into it,” he added.
Rathour says the 34-year-old has the ability to change his game as needed which for him is his biggest quality.
“He’s batting really well and as batting coach I believe in adaptability. He’s an aggressive player, tries to dominate but a good player is someone who can change his game as per conditions and team’s requirement. That is Virat’s biggest quality. He can play different formats differently, he has shown it in the past,” the former India selector said.
He pointed out how Kohli showed his defensive game when the spinners were dominating in the series opener and thereby setting an example for youngsters.
“By the time he came to bat, the wicket had started offering more turn and bounce. The way he defended against left-arm spinner, I think it was a lesson for youngsters on how to play when the ball is going away from you. It was extremely good. 100 is inevitable the way he’s playing,” said Rathour.
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