'He's scoring lot more than what I did in those 3 years': Gavaskar slams 'Kohli's out of touch' criticism after 45 vs SL

Kohli looked in sublime touch throughout his 76-ball stay before being befuddled by left-arm spinner Lasith Embuldeniya.

Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar on Friday slammed critics for calling Virat Kohli “out of touch” after the 33-year-old was dismissed for 45 in the first Test of the two-match series against Sri Lanka in Mohali. The Test match marks Kohli's 100th appearance in the format, making him the 12th Indian cricketer to reach the milestone.

Virat Kohli; Sunil Gavaskar

Kohli looked in sublime touch throughout his 76-ball stay before being befuddled by left-arm spinner Lasith Embuldeniya.

Speaking to Star Sports at Tea Break on Day 1 of the series opener, Gavaskar admitted that Kohli has been scoring half-centuries almost regular in the format despite his century drought in the format.

“He's been scoring lot more than what I did in those 3 years. He is getting regular half-centuries or scores of 70-80 every alternate game. He is not getting the hundred. So you can't say he is out of touch. Like I have been saying, the first mistake that he makes is turning out to be the last mistake,” he said.

The legendary batter then decoded Kohli's dismissal saying that he played for the trajectory and the dismissal was mere bad luck for the former India captain.

“I think over here is played for the trajectory. You can that it was a flatter delivery and he could have played forward to it, but he played back. And with that backlift coming only a little bit across allowed the ball to sneak past the outside edge and hit the off stump. It was a matter of luck. It happens to the best,” he explained.

Earlier in the day, Kohli was given a rousing welcome by 5000 odd Mohali crowd as he walked out of the dressing room after Mayank Agarwal's dismissal. And en route to his knock, he also completed the milestone of 8000 runs in Test cricket, becoming the sixth Indian batter to achieve the feat.

Talking about Kohli's century drought, he last reached the three-figure mark in the Pink Ball Test against Bangladesh in Kolkata, scoring a match-winning 136. It remains his last century in international cricket.