The frustrating wait for Virat Kohli, who is in hunt for his 71st international century, continues. Kohli last lodged a hundred during India’s maiden pink-ball Test, played in November 2019 when they took on Bangladesh at the Eden Gardens and since then, he has been unable to breach the mark across formats.
Not that the 33-year-old has been out for form though. He’s been batting fluently and with a positive intent. However, he’s been failing to convert his starts and former India allrounder Madan Lal reckons it seems like Kohli has been lacking concentration.
The latest example of it came during the Mohali Test, Kohli’s 100th of international career. He had done well to reach 45 and raised hopes the drought would end before Sri Lanka spinner Lasith Embuldeniya cleaned him up.
“I watched his batting,” Madan said on Aaj Tak. “I feel somewhere he is lacking his concentration. Question was, why did he go on back foot? Might have been a mental block. But his batting was very positive. He started getting runs as soon as he came to the crease. But definitely he is capable.”
The longer the wait, the more pressure Kohli will feel, reckons Madan.
“We all want him to get out of this (century drought). I’m sure it must have been playing in his head. And one more thing, the more number of innings it takes to reach his next hundred, the more the pressure will be on him. In Bengaluru he will get one advantage which is that the pitch offers bounce and hence he might play better,” he opined.
The second Test between India and Sri Lanka gets underway from today in Bengaluru. The contest will be a day-night affair and India’s fourth such match having earlier played against Bangladesh (Kolkata), England (Ahmedabad) and Australia (Adelaide).
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