Test Cricket

“I never rule great players out” : Sourav Ganguly on Virat Kohli’s poor run in Test cricket King Kohli has not had the best of times with the bat recently, with some saying that age is the main factor of his decline. The superstar’s slump was also seen to be continued against New Zealand, where he was able to score just 93 runs in an embarrassing whitewash at home. Virat Kohli and India are now in Australia for the Border-Gavaskar test series, and the right-handed batsman will be keen to put some runs on the board as he has not scored a century against the SENA countries (South Africa, England, New Zealand, and Australia) since Perth in 2018. Kohli also played just one test the last time India visited Australia in 2019, as he had to travel back due to the birth of his child. Ahead of the first test, former India captain and commentator Sourav Ganguly addressed the situation about Kohli, believing that he is not too worried about the 36-year-old as he has showed time and again to get back up after a slump. “He is hungry and knows that he has a reputation to keep” : Sourav Ganguly believes Virat Kohli will pick up form against Australia Ganguly highlighted that he never rules out great players. But calling Virat Kohli great would be an understatement, such is the standard he has maintained for himself over the years. Although, after mentioning his insane test record in Australia and how the pitches will help him, he also explained that we are watching an ageing Virat Kohli, not the young one from the past years. “I never rule great players out. He hasn’t had the best of times in Test matches (recently). He arrived in Australia early. He is hungry and knows that he has a reputation to keep. He will be playing on good pitches. He has 6 hundreds in 13 Tests in Australia. I know that was four or five years ago, it was a young Virat Kohli. He is ageing now,” Ganguly said on the Club Prairie Fire Podcast. Dada also talked about a relatable time he had come across with Rahul Dravid, who had not scored an overseas century from 2007 to 2011. But in 2011, when Dravid was in the last stretch of his career, he travelled to England and scored four hundreds in four games, at the age of 38. “I remember the case with Rahul Dravid. He did not score an overseason century between 2007 and 2011. However, he went to England in 2011 and got four hundreds in four games. I was on comms and asked him ‘mate, how long are you gonna play.’ He told me ‘I still feel i can do it’. He opened during that series, if you remember,” the 52-year-old revealed. With India’s first innings done at 150 all out, Kohli unfortunately could only manage 5 runs off 12 balls, before falling short to Usman Khawaja at slip during Hazelwood’s spell. But at the end of day 1, the Aussies are at 67/7 thanks to Jasprit Bumrah once again, who has been India’s best player in recent years and is showing no signs of stopping. For Kohli, there is still time to recover and add to his insane scoring record in the Australian pitches. Also Read: “When he’s up, he’s up” : Australian legend Glenn McGrath believes they are the favorites, but have to keep an eye out on Virat Kohli