Former India captain and maverick batter, Virat Kohli continues his hunt for a breakout innings in Test cricket. The right-handed batter last scored a century in red-ball cricket in 2019 against Bangladesh and his Test average has plummeted to below 49. In the on-going Border-Gavaskar series against Australia, the stylish batter has struggled to convert his starts into a substantial innings. In fairness to Kohli, batting has proven to be extremely challenging on pitches that have offered great assistance to slow bowlers.
In five innings against Australia, Kohli has aggregated just 111 runs at a poor average of 22.20. His vulnerability against finger spinners has been exposed as Matthew Kuhnemann, Todd Murphy and Nathan Lyon have kept the Indian maverick batter in check.
With runs coming at a premium, questions are already being raised Kohli, and former Australia batter Mark Waugh believes that the former India captain is feeling the pressure of scoring runs every time he walks out to bat in Test cricket.
“I cannot believe a player of his class has gone that long without a hundred,” former Australia batter Mark Waugh said on Fox Cricket.
“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," he added.
Meanwhile, Nathan Lyon's lionhearted effort with the ball has put Australia on the brink of a well-deserved win in Indore Test. The right-arm spinner bagged eight wickets in the second innings after accounting for three scalps in the first innings. With three full days remaining in the Test, the Baggy Greens need just 76 runs to win the match.
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