‘He would like to come back to that form that we haven’t seen for some time’ - Zaheer Khan on Virat Kohli

Former India captain Virat Kohli has been going through a rough patch for the last few years. Even during the fifth Test against England, especially in the second innings, he started well but couldn’t carry that forward. 

If Kohli wants to break his Test century drought, extending to more than 2.5 years, he would have to play the Bangladesh series later this year. But, notably, now there will be a full focus on T20Is exclusively as the ICC T20 World Cup will take place later this year.

However, former India speedster Zaheer Khan was asked about Kohli’s poor run. He mentioned that the former India captain must be disappointed as he has already set the bar high.

“Take any player for that matter and especially a player like Virat Kohli will surely be sad. Because he set a higher standard for himself. And the expectations that fans have for him…. Like we all know, who are the so-called fab four? Steve Smith, Joe Root, Kane Williamson and Virat Kohli. So, whenever somebody else scores, he is also being taken note of. Even if you are also saying that ‘see, Joe Root has scored, so Virat Kohli must also score.’ So, that’s how he is being compared,” Khan was quoted as saying on Cricbuzz’s Youtube channel.

“Obviously, by his very own standards, he would like to come back to that form that we haven’t seen for some time. He was looking good in the second innings; he just got out to a very good ball,” he further added.

Kohli last scored a Test century against Bangladesh at the Eden Hardens in November 2019. But, if he scores his next Test hundred in November 2022 against the same opponent, it will end a three-year cycle that started against Bangladesh. And it will be interesting to see how the swashbuckling batter returns to his top form.