Live Score
Cricket Teams
Cricket Players'Even greats like Tendulkar and Dravid have gone through such phase': Ex-IND coach on Kohli's century drought
Virat Kohli's last international century came in the pink-ball Test against Bangladesh at Eden Gardens.
Virat Kohli is arguably India's greatest modern batter but the 33-year-old hasn't been in the best of forms with the bat over the last two years, with his last ton coming in 2019. It came in the pink-ball Test against Bangladesh at Eden Gardens, after which he has managed to score 599 runs in 13 Tests at 26.04 -- an average that doesn't do justice to the dasher's batting prowess.
Former India all-rounder and batting coach Sanjay Bangar, however, has dismissed talks mentioning Kohli's century drought since 57 innings. Bangar highlighted Kohli's contribution to the team's cause, explaining how greats like Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid also struggled for centuries at one point in their careers.
"Please don't say that time and again because I have said earlier as well that those are 57 innings including all formats. If you just look at the Test innings that he has played, the double hundred that he got against South Africa, it was in Pune I think, after that the run of hundreds has dried up. So it's been 22 or 23 innings," Bangar said on Star Sports show Game Plan.
"Even greats like Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid have gone through such a phase wherein they haven't scored a hundred for a long time. But it doesn't really mean that in the interim they haven't contributed to the team's cause.
"If you look at Virat Kohli in the previous series, he got a couple of very good half-centuries, he got a couple of very good forties and that helped the Indian team's cause," he added.
Since the last Test ton, Kohli has notched up plenty of half-centuries and Bangar believes the world could perhaps see him taking the batting a notch above his level if he sticks to the "processes".
"If you look at Virat Kohli in the previous series, he got a couple of very good half-centuries, he got a couple of very good forties and that helped the Indian team's cause," said Bangar.
Rohit Sharma, who was named India's new ODI skipper last week, also feels that a batter of Kohli's quality along with his experience of playing in difficult situations is essential for the team. Kohli will look to breach the three-figure mark when India will square off against South Africa for three Tests, starting December 26.
