Despite Australia being one of Virat Kohli’s happiest hunting grounds throughout his career, the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy has been a tough one for fans to stomach with Kohli not quite clicking into gear. Although he seemed to have gotten off to a good start with a century at the Optus Stadium in Perth, he has only combined for 26 runs in his four other innings. With an unfortunately familiar dismissal wafting at a delivery wide of off stump at the Gabba, Kohli’s critics are back in full force and demanding more from India’s talismanic batter.
Nevertheless, despite a downturn in form in Test cricket, which has had many questioning his position within the Indian team, many within the professional cricket community continue to back Kohli and anticipate a return to form.
One such is former South Africa batter Herschelle Gibbs, who spoke to InsideSport and supported Kohli. “Look, Virat Kohli’s standards are still high. He got a Test century a couple of weeks ago. So you don’t suddenly become a bad player within that period of time,” explained Gibbs.
“He is a very proud cricketer, very proud of his stats — he demands very high standards of himself, and it’ll be wrong to write him off. He would have probably sat down with the batting coach, and he would know, what he’s doing wrong,” continued the former Proteas star.
‘It is going to be a huge occasion, and he loves them…’
“You don’t play for years and score 9000 Test runs without knowing what you’re doing wrong,” said Gibbs. He also spoke about how playing in a high-profile match such as the Boxing Day Test with the series on the line could inspire the best of Kohli. “Maybe, it could be a technical thing, but he knows how to score especially in the Boxing Day Test. It is going to be a huge occasion, and he loves them. I back him to make runs, definitely.”
{{/usCountry}}“You don’t play for years and score 9000 Test runs without knowing what you’re doing wrong,” said Gibbs. He also spoke about how playing in a high-profile match such as the Boxing Day Test with the series on the line could inspire the best of Kohli. “Maybe, it could be a technical thing, but he knows how to score especially in the Boxing Day Test. It is going to be a huge occasion, and he loves them. I back him to make runs, definitely.”
{{/usCountry}}Kohli would himself be disappointed by the manner in which he has been dismissed throughout the series without scoring any significant runs, with his opposite number Steven Smith also finding form with a century at the Gabba. India’s chances of success hinge on how well Kohli can perform, which means as always there will be plenty of attention when he comes to the crease in Melbourne.