'He says he doesn't know, but he isn't being honest': Ex-NZ bowler says Kohli 'knows he needs a 100 to silence critics'

Kohli's last international hundred came in the Pink Ball Test against Bangladesh in November 2019, where he had scored a match-winning 136

Former New Zealand cricketer Simon Doull believes that while Indian captain Virat Kohli might have come in terms with his century drought, he knows exactly how many innings it has been since his last international hundred. Doull added that the 33-year-old knows that he needs to score another hundred to silence his critics. 

Virat Kohli (Getty)

Kohli's last international hundred came in the Pink Ball Test against Bangladesh in November 2019, where he had scored a match-winning 136.  He has since played 56 innings across formats over the next 740 days - 23 in T20Is, 23 Tests and 10 ODIs - but has failed to reach the three-figure mark for the 71sth time in international cricket.

Speaking to Star Sports after the toss for the second Test between India and New Zealand, Doull said that Kohli knows how long it has been since his last ton and that he is feeling the pressure as much as any other player. 

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“They know how big this is, how big that wicket is. Virat knows how many innings it has been (since his last international century). He says he doesn't know how many it has been, but he is not being honest either. He knows exactly when he had scored his last hundred and he knows that he needs another hundred to silence some of the critics. So he is feeling the pressure as much as anyone,” he said. 

The veteran cricketer further added that critics have targetted him for his century drought only because of the high standards he has set for himself.

“And rightly, he should. He sets such high standard. That's the problem. When you set such high standards, so far above the rest, how do you stick to it? At times you will have a lull and this is one of those lulls,” he added.

Admitting Kohli as a good Test batsman, Doull, cheekily mentioned that he hopes Kohli to not break his drought in the Mumbai Test against New Zealand. 

“He is too good a player, but lets hope that (century) happens in the next Test match and not this.”

Kohli returned to the India XI after having take a one-Test break where Ajinkya Rahane had led the side in his stead. Valiantly negating India's spin trio, New Zealand had eked out a draw in the Kanpur opener earlier this week.