India's Test skipper Virat Kohli averages 45 in Test cricket but only 20 in nine Test matches against England.
India's Test skipper Virat Kohli averages 45 in Test cricket but only 20 in nine Test matches against England. This includes a series at home and away. In England, his struggles against the moving ball in 2014 where he only averaged 13 are well documented.
But for a man, still only in his sixth year of Test cricket, these statistics will get corrected with time. However, such has been Kohli's rise and his consistency so stupendous across formats, that these poor numbers stand out as peculiarly ugly in an ever improving career graph.
Kohli said at the beginning of the Rajkot Test that these numbers don't affect him. "I can put it very simply as that was the phase when I didn't perform too well and it happened to be England and could have been any other country in the world. It made me realise what I need to improve in my game so I am pretty thankful to England for that. I have been a really improved cricketer from then on."
Is Kohli really 'the monk in the civil world?' Does he not want to break free against England? India Today posed the same question to cricket experts Adam Gilchrist and Allan Lamb.
Adam Gilchrist: He should try not to think too much about the numbers. Try to be positive about it. He has said he is a different player from the time he toured England. He is not the first foreign batsmen to have struggles to the seaming and swinging ball.
He is a terrific player. He has said he has had to lift his work ethic from that England tour and no reason he will get runs against England at some point in time.
Allan Lamb: Virat came to England in 2014 and they said he will be a Sachin Tendulkar. He never coped on those wickets and did struggle against the moving ball.
You have to have the technique to play the swinging ball. India come to England in two years in a five-Test series, he would want to perform, India would want to win. I think he would have worked on that. He is a class above everyone else. I have seen him in ODI's and in T20 batting with AB Devilliers and have never seen anything like it. Now he keeps piling on runs in Test cricket as well. It's incredible how hungry he is for runs.
Share This Post
