Virat Kohli will play his 98th Test when India takes on South Africa in the first Test in Centurion.© AFP
Virat Kohli will try to score big runs in Test cricket again when he leads India against South Africa in the first game of the series at Centurion on Sunday. Kohli last scored a Test Century in November 2019 and has played 22 innings since then. This is the longest gap, in terms of innings, between two centuries in his career and Kohli is feeling the heat. India’s performance on the pitch remains solid despite Kohli’s dodgy form with the bat, but the captain knows he must score big runs if India is to end their wait to win a series in South Africa for the first time.
Kohli is also about to join an elite roster of Indian batters and he is set to hit the milestone in the opening game of the series itself. The Indian captain has scored 7801 runs in 97 matches at an average of 50.65 and is just 199 runs away from completing 8000 runs in Test cricket.
Once he reaches the milestone, he will become the 6th Indian batter to score 8000 or more runs in Tests. Sachin Tendulkar (15,921), Rahul Dravid (13,265), Sunil Gavaskar (10,122), VVS Laxman (8781), Virender Sehwag (8503) are the other Indian batters who are part of the elite.
Kohli, with 27 Test centuries to his name in November 2019, looked in a hurry to overtake his former team-mate and idol Sachin Tendulkar in both ODIs and Test cricket. But the great Indian machine has since reached a difficult point like no other in his career to date and he would like to end the drought here himself.
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Kohli has scored 5 half-centuries during this period, but has also recorded four ducks and four scores under 10. While rough spots are part of any cricketer’s career, the numbers get stark in Kohli’s case, as he is astonishingly high. has set standards for itself with its unparalleled consistency across all formats from 2015 to 2019.
Indian cricket fans would hope Kohli would raise the bat again and celebrate a big score soon.
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